The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD), in cooperation with the Jordanian Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, held consultation sessions on Wednesday on the priorities of the organizations of persons with disabilities within the themes of the Global Disability Summit 2025 (GDS 2025).
In the presence of representatives of civil society organizations, organizations of persons with disabilities, and the Jordanian Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, the Assistant Secretary-General for Technical Affairs at HCD, Ghadeer Al-Haris, said that the idea of holding the GDS came with the aim of advancing the interest of persons with disabilities to become part of the agenda of countries, not only within organizations concerned with disability issues.
She explained that the summit is organized each time by a developed and a developing country, in addition to the International Disability Alliance (IDA), which is a permanent member, with the aim of partnership between them and bridging the gaps between the developed and developing world.
She pointed out that after the participation of His Majesty King Abdullah II in the second GDS via videoconference, during which he stressed the importance of the inclusion for the rights of persons with disabilities and including them on the agendas of countries, and highlighted the achievements made in Jordan, and given Jordan's reputation in international forums in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities, Jordan was chosen to be the organizer of the third summit in partnership with Germany and the IDA.
She explained that the main themes of the summit are determined through consultative sessions organized by IDA with civil society organizations, governments, organizations, and the private sector that participate for the first time in the summit make commitments according to the national priorities identified by persons with disabilities, pointing out that this summit will be at the level of world leaders, and will seek to fill gaps and strengthen international cooperation to this end.
For her part, Engineer Rasha Al-Adwan, Director of the Independent Living Directorate at HCD, addressed the most important topics that will be addressed at the summit, such as political participation of persons with disabilities, sexual and reproductive health, inclusive education, accessible tourism so that destinations, services, facilities and tourism products are accessible to all, national measures to protect persons with disabilities in light of crises, epidemics and disasters, and economic empowerment by enhancing opportunities for participation in the labor market.
Alia Zureiqat, Director of the Cooperation and International Relations Unit at HCD, stated that a specialized portal will be launched next September through which commitments, such as initiatives, projects, or policies that will be implemented in the field of disability inclusion, explaining that the parties that can submit commitments are governments, United Nations agencies, civil society, including organizations of persons with disabilities, the private sector, educational institutions, and entrepreneurial institutions.
For his part, Abdul Qader Suleiman, Executive Director of the Jordanian Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, pointed out that an online platform will soon be launched by the International Disability Alliance, in addition to launching a questionnaire through several means to know the priorities of organizations and persons with disabilities to identify the topics that organizations and persons with disabilities want to raise at the Disability Forum, which will be held one day before the summit.
For his part, international consultant in disability inclusion at the United Nations Arab Regional Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Dr. Mustafa Attia, addressed, via remote video conferencing, the barriers that prevent the inclusion of persons with disabilities in catastrophic risk reduction strategies in the Arab region, and the steps to take the necessary measures and procedures to include them at the practical level before, during and after catastrophic risks.
The Global Disability Summit is a global mechanism that aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities and unite efforts between stakeholders at the global, regional and local levels in disability-inclusive development.