Amman, Dec 14 (Petra) - The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD), in cooperation with UNESCO, on Sunday organized a dialogue workshop marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2025, under the title "Enhancing Leadership in Light of National Commitments." The workshop, attended by a number of government officials and private-sector partners, focused on strengthening the leadership of persons with disabilities and empowering them to participate in driving social progress, as well as reviewing Jordan’s commitments to the rights of persons with disabilities presented at the Global Disability Summit.

Speaking at the opening of the event, UNESCO Education Section Chief Tab Raj Pant said that persons with disabilities lead change toward achieving social progress, stressing that disability in itself is not an obstacle, but rather the barriers imposed by society through inadequate accessibility are what hinder them.

He added that inclusion represents justice and forms the basis of sustainable development, noting that one billion people worldwide live with disabilities yet are deprived of equal opportunities and participation in decision-making, underscoring the need to integrate them into services, public life, and policies.

Bhandari referred to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, affirming that it guarantees their right to equality and that UNESCO is committed to this vision supporting their rights. He noted that UNESCO has developed this year an action plan as a roadmap to entrench inclusion, including ensuring accessibility across all sectors.

He added that Jordan represents a distinguished model in translating the commitments of the Global Disability Summit into practical reality, as its national vision focuses on making education accessible, empowering every child with a disability to learn, removing barriers preventing their inclusion in society, and ensuring their participation in decision-making and public services.

"We have achieved significant accomplishments with the Ministry of Education and HCD in the field of education, and we seek to support policies that remove barriers. We are working to make Jordan a beacon for inclusive education," he said.

For his part, Director of HCD Capacity Development and Research Unit Zaid Attari said the goal of the council and national institutions is to achieve inclusion and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their rights as easily as other citizens. He noted that the council focuses on transitioning from a care-based approach to a rights-based approach grounded in legal obligations to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities.

He explained that hosting the Global Disability Summit 2025, with the participation of His Majesty King Abdullah II, resulted in the adoption of more than 130 commitments to ensure access to rights for persons with disabilities. He said this phase represents a golden opportunity to realize those commitments, as many institutions have begun developing plans for their implementation, while the council is currently working on identifying priorities to ensure optimal execution and achievement of the intended goals.

Attari affirmed that HCD role centers on reviewing policies and legislation and providing technical support to ensure that persons with disabilities obtain their rights in education, health, employment, and other areas, and to achieve active citizenship.

The workshop included a dialogue session hosting a number of inspiring figures with disabilities, most notably Chair of the Senate Committee for Persons with Disabilities Senator Asia Yaghi. She stressed that persons with disabilities can be effective through proper education and awareness of their rights, possessing a high cultural and knowledge level, and having full familiarity with laws and legislation related to disability.

She explained that factors helping overcome challenges faced by persons with disabilities begin with family and community support, providing opportunities to persons with disabilities, convincing those around them of their skills, and the presence of associations concerned with their rights that act as advocates for their causes. She pointed out that increasing political participation of persons with disabilities is a key pillar, as their presence at the decision-making table ensures that decisions are fair and equitable to them and their rights.

Also participating in the dialogue was Assistant Director General for Insurance Affairs and spokesperson for the Social Security Corporation, Shaman Al-Majali, who explained that his receiving the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency (Distinguished Employee category) was not the result of a temporary circumstance, but rather the outcome of long-standing effort and continuous work.

Al-Majali spoke about his experience of appointment at the Social Security Corporation and the challenges he faced as a person with a disability, noting that he confronted these challenges with determination and strong will, armed with knowledge, proving himself, and adhering to the goal of being outstanding and proactive, despite the fact that the accommodations and facilities currently available were not present at that time.

He stressed that he believed in the necessity of being at the forefront rather than on the margins and that he has today become a well-informed reference on all social security affairs, emphasizing that determination and willpower are the foundation of success.

Meanwhile, Chair of the Raneen Foundation, Rawan Barakat, said the idea of establishing the foundation began as a dream in 2005, aiming to create an audio library for children, in light of the difficulties faced by blind children in reading stories. She explained that the foundation later developed to build an integrated educational system focusing primarily on developing listening skills among children.

She affirmed that this experience demonstrates that inclusive education can be built within the existing educational system, without the need for separate tracks, in line with national directions toward integrating persons with disabilities in education.

For his part, Saleh Nasser, founder of the "Qaderoon" project concerned with employing youth with disabilities, said the project aims to provide job opportunities for persons with disabilities and prepare suitable work environments for them, in addition to offering training programs that contribute to raising their knowledge level and qualifying them to acquire the skills necessary for integration into the labor market.

He stressed that the most prominent challenges facing persons with disabilities in work environments lie in societal rejection, emphasizing that they are capable of performing their tasks efficiently when a supportive and appropriate environment is available.

Director of the Project on Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Their Access to Services in Jordan, Murtada Obaidat, presented a briefing on national commitments and follow-up mechanisms, institutional commitment plans, and the timeline for their implementation. He noted that 60 national institutions have submitted implementation plans, which the council is working to monitor in cooperation with liaison officers from those institutions.

The workshop also included a second session titled "Turning Commitments into Action," featuring Head of the Department of Programs for Students with Disabilities at the Ministry of Education Fayza Falahat, Director of Administrative and Engineering Affairs at Housing Bank Bashar Fakhouri, and Director of Sustainability at Zain Jordan Lara Alamat. The session addressed their institutions’ commitments and the approach adopted in presenting them, emphasizing institutional inclusivity, as well as highlighting progress achieved in implementation, challenges facing institutions, and ways to overcome them.

//Petra// AF