Interview With Charity’s Board Member, Nahaleh Naraghi

The Naraghi family and the Actoverco Pharmaceutical Group are famous names in the industry in Iran

Interview With Charity’s Board Member, Nahaleh Naraghi

With six decades of shining presence in the country’s pharmaceutical and food industries during the ups and downs of Iran’s economy, along with a long list of records and firsts alongside superior quality and competitiveness with top European manufacturers, Actoverco Pharmaceutical Group has become a prestigious name that can confidently be said that few Iranians have not benefited from its diverse basket of medicines and food products.

Actoverco Pharmaceutical Group has always followed social responsibilities and charitable activities as an integral part of its identity and evolution, alongside its presence at the forefront of production. In this regard, it has been actively involved in poverty alleviation, helping the needy, and expanding educational centers.

The establishment of the Dr. Mostafa Naraghi Charity Foundation was a turning point in the charitable activities of the Naraghi family and the Actoverco Pharmaceutical Group.

Considering the effective activities of this foundation in poverty alleviation, especially in school construction, we had an interview with Nahaleh Naraghi, a member of the board of trustees of Dr. Naraghi Charity Foundation, about the foundation’s activities and programs.

How was the charity foundation of the Dr. Mustafa Naraghi formed?

Dr. Mustafa Naraghi has always kept in mind his motivation and social responsibility towards the people of this land, along with the supply and production of health-oriented products, during his many years of activity in the pharmaceutical industry. Including the fact that after the victory of the revolution, with the start of sanctions and the withdrawal of large foreign companies, especially during the war years, when the country was facing many hardships and problems in providing pharmaceutical needs, his father, due to the relationship he had with these companies before the revolution, played a role they were special in meeting the pharmaceutical needs of the country. In addition, they paid special attention and effort in the field of arresting the needy and helping the deprived. This spirit and belief that existed in the whole family made the mother decide to launch a legal institution to organize charity affairs in the middle of the 70s. “Dr. Mustafa Naraghi Charity Foundation”, which was officially registered about a decade later (in 2006).

You mentioned the special role of mother in the formation of Naraghi charity. It is a huge task that has certainly been accompanied by many follow-ups and many difficulties. What made them take a step on this difficult path?

Regardless of the idea of establishing the foundation and the unique role that my mother (Ms. Farvardin Tahbaz) had in establishing the foundation, honestly, in all the years of charity activity, I and my brother (Dr. Alinser Naraghi) were heavily involved in production affairs. My mother have played the biggest role in the management of the foundation, so that they carefully monitor the micro-activities and the most detailed programs of the foundation. Of course, in the last one or two years, with the free time I have found, I have tried to take as much of the foundation’s troubles and problems off my mother’s shoulders as possible.

My mother was born on the 3rd April 1936 in holy Mashhad and even though they immigrated to Tehran after marrying to (Dr. Mustafa Naraghi) in 1959, due to their deep love for their hometown, they care for the less privileged areas on the outskirts of Mashhad. The mother’s kindness and benevolent spirit, along with a lifetime of living with a man who really had no greater sorrow than serving the people, caused her to connect the beauty of her wife’s memory with the contentment of the heart and the peace of the deprived, especially the needy children, and the effect of this charity with Make empowerment last in their lives.

These deep human motivations, which have been rooted in Dr. Naraghi’s foundation since its establishment, have been the biggest capital and driving force of the foundation in all these years, until today, the seedlings planted by Dr. Mustafa Naraghi’s foundation are bearing fruit.

According to the field of activity of the company, probably the focus of charity activities should be to meet the medical needs of the deprived sections of the society! It is correct?

Since the goal of the charity is to deal with poverty and deprivation and empower the target groups, we have tried to find the roots of poverty along with urgently solving the financial problems and bottlenecks of families.

One of the main reasons for poverty and deprivation is lack of access to proper education. In developing countries, children do not have access to primary education due to inequalities caused by the lack of fair distribution of wealth and facilities. These children find themselves on the margins of the educational system and do not benefit from learning the teachings that are vital for their intellectual and social development and the illiteracy of parents multiplies the risk of failure and dropout of children and teenagers.

Based on this, striving for educational justice and equal access to the resource distribution system is one of the fundamental strategies of Dr. Mustafa Naraghi Charity Foundation.

Charity is taking a step in the field of education and is trying to reduce educational discrimination between economically disadvantaged children and the able-bodied.

What has Dr. Naraghi’s charity done in the field of education?

In order to achieve the goal of eliminating educational discrimination, Dr. Naraghi Charity has built four schools in the underprivileged areas of Khorasan Razavi and Alborz provinces. In order to create a suitable environment for students’ education, this charity foundation has built a complex consisting of three elementary, secondary and conservatory levels located in Mashhad and a technical and professional conservatory for boys located in Karaj.

Also, a scientific and applied unit has been established in the old people’s home in Kahrizak, which, with the help of trained professors, has provided educational support and opportunities for educational and professional advancement to more than two thousand people in the community.

The establishment of “Robabe Tahbaz Girls’ Elementary School” in the marginal areas of Mashhad and Dr. Mustafa Naraghi’s Educational Cultural Center located in the Kahrizak Nursing Home, both of which were established in 1998, are among the oldest activities of the foundation.

The establishment of Dr. Mustafa Naraghi’s boys’ conservatory in one of the deprived areas of Karaj with more than 600 square meters of educational workshops including two halls and including four fields of mechanics, electronics, electrotechnics and computers in 2013, equipping the space to change the primary use of “Robabeh Tahbaz” to a girls’ conservatory in Four disciplines of sewing, embroidery and graphics (with 30 classes and 10 technical workshops and about a thousand students so far), the establishment of “Farvardin Tahbaz elementary school” for girls and “Baqer Tahbaz”; the first secondary school for girls located in Mashhad in 2018. One of the main actions of the foundation in the field of school construction and provision of educational infrastructure, which were carried out with the cooperation of Actover pharmaceutical Group and food industry complex.

In addition, the charity foundation of Dr. Naraghi provides educational grants to gifted students, university education grants for gifted students in government centers, payment of registration fees, uniforms, insurance, and also the cost of helping the school of all covered students. The cost of purchasing stationery for students has been applied.

Considering the many livelihood problems that needy families are facing, what has Dr. Naraghi’s charity foundation had done in this field?

In order to complete the chain of welfare services and remove deprivation from the beginning of the establishment of the foundation, measures to provide livelihood, provides marriage necessities and medical allowances are on the agenda of this foundation.

Among these actions are the payment of subsistence allowance to cover daily expenses, the provision of essential household appliances for about 200 families, including gas stoves, heaters, refrigerators, carpets, kitchen utensils, fans, blankets, etc., and the provision and donation of more than 200 sets of dowries as needed. Young couples, payment of treatment costs including introduction to the relevant doctor and payment of diagnosis and treatment costs, payment of surgical operations with full provision of all services, including payment of the cost of transferring the patient to the city of the treatment center if necessary, payment of all hospital costs from the time of admission of patients to Discharge and provision of accommodation is accompanied by the patient, which has been done for more than 300 patients so far.

Dr. Mustafa Naraghi Charity Foundation, with the help of “Amadeh Laziz” have taken steps to increase the preparedness of the less privileged sections of the country in dealing with damages caused by natural disasters and diseases, cooperation with athletes, and also the preservation and protection of the environment of this border.

Attending the affected areas caused by natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes in deprived areas of the country, including dispatching medical specialists, providing medicine, donating appropriate food, donating blankets and warm clothes, stationery and providing aid to the affected areas caused by the earthquake in Syria include sending blankets and heating devices, medical items, medical equipment and food to the victims of the Syrian earthquake, preparing disinfectant solutions, personal protective clothing and distributing them in medical centers and hospitals, preparing and donating food items, Educational facilities, medical and pharmaceutical necessities and cash donations to other organizations and charities, sending medical and food aid to the flooded areas of Sistan and Baluchistan (March 1402), equipping the pharmacy of the national wrestling team including the necessary drugs and supplements as well as medical and physiotherapy equipment. This collection, supporting Miankaleh wildlife rangers, cleaning public places, including cleaning the heights of Shamshak and Darband Sar, cleaning the Pleur anemone plain, etc is an example of the actions that have been carried out in these areas.

And the final word!

An issue that has been seriously considered since the establishment of Dr. Naraghi Charity is transparency and accuracy in recording and documenting actions and expenses, so we can provide a clear report on all the activities of the foundation in recent years. In my opinion, this issue is absolutely necessary for charitable institutions that operate on the basis of trust, empathy and love of supporters. Such transparency is necessary even in the case of charities such as the Dr. Naraghi Foundation, whose expenses are mostly financed through the Actoverco pharmaceutical food collection and in line with the company’s social responsibilities.

I am happy that with the efforts and support of the foundation’s supporters, we have been able to take steps towards improving the quality of life of our fellow countrymen in need, and I hope that with the continuation of this support, we will be able to carry out more extensive programs in the field of education, treatment, social support and the environment.

While inviting the esteemed audience to get more information about Dr. Naraghi’s charity activities by referring to the website and providing their suggestions and guidance.

I invite you to see the products produced by children and teenagers under the cover of Naraghi charity and presented on the foundation’s website.

By supporting and preparing these handicrafts, which are the result of the creativity and efforts of children and teenagers covered by the foundation. By encouraging and helping these small artists and innovators, you give them self-confidence and hope for the future.