The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD), with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Shamil Project, organized a consultation on “Comprehensive Social Protection for Persons with Disabilities” as part of preparations for the third Global Disability Summit 2025, to be held in Berlin and jointly organized by Jordan, Germany and the International Disability Alliance (IDA).
The two-day consultation workshop will be attended by the Jordanian Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, representatives of international and governmental organizations, and a number of civil society institutions.
In her opening speech, the Director of the Independent Living Directorate at HCD, En. Rasha Al-Adwan, said that in mid-November of this year, the Kingdom will host the Regional Summit for the Middle East and North Africa, Africa and Asia, with the participation of a number of stakeholders from the government, civil society and entities concerned with persons with disabilities, and representatives from different regions of the Middle East and North Africa, some Asian countries, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, as part of the ongoing preparations for the third Global Summit 2025.
She stated that the Regional Disability Summit aims to share information about the Global Summit, verify the topics identified by organizations of persons with disabilities during the national consultation processes that included all regions of the Kingdom, support the submission of strong and effective commitments, and monitor the mobilization and support for these commitments and their implementation.
Adwan explained that the national consultations on Comprehensive social protection for persons with disabilities and other summit topics are the backbone of the participatory process at the Global Disability Summit, and aim to empower communities of persons with disabilities to advocate for inclusiveness in this area both in their own countries and around the world.
Ms. Khawla Al-Wazni, Legal Representative and Senior Engagement Manager of Shamil, said that the project aims to consolidate efforts towards strengthening inclusive and sustainable protection systems in Jordan, which constitutes a technical pillar within the Jordan Socio-Economic Resilience Enhancement Project program.
For her part, Shamil program expert Madeline Cretney said that globally, social protection is a tool to help people manage risks and shocks in life, and provide additional care and support to individuals and families in need, through social security, personal care and support, and social services for adults, children and during old age.
Inclusive social security for persons with disabilities in the global sense makes it possible to empower persons with disabilities, ensuring that they enjoy dignity, independence and the opportunity to participate fully in society on an equal basis with other people, she said.
Dr. Mark Kara, a disability expert at Shamil Project, explained the importance of social security in the global sense for people with disabilities, and that it is a basic human right that helps provide income to compensate individuals for the additional costs they face due to their disability, and reduce their financial burdens. He stated that it is important for people with disabilities to participate in discussions because they are rights holders and should be consulted on matters that affect these rights.
Mark addressed the additional costs incurred by people with disabilities such as transportation, availability of medicines, hospital appointments, personal care aids and specialized equipment, and the high cost of schooling, pointing out the challenges that people with disabilities face during their lives that compound to affect their standard of living, such as educational deprivation, difficulty accessing employment and the risk of low income over a lifetime, low standard of living in old age, and difficulty accessing health care.
Mark said that the support needed by people with disabilities includes a range of public services, such as health care, transportation, jobs, social services, social security, education and training, and housing availability.
Ms. Reem Aslan, Gender Specialist and Director of Decent Work for Women Programs at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States, gave a presentation in which she reviewed international labor standards and social protection for persons with disabilities, and ILO strategies to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities within the work environment.
Reem Aslan, Gender Specialist and Director of Decent Work for Women Programs at the ILO/Regional Office for Arab States, gave a presentation on the objectives of the organization and addressed international labor standards related to non-discrimination and social protection for persons with disabilities. She focused on the standards that Jordan has ratified and how their provisions have been adopted in national legislation, national programs and tools that aim to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labor market.
Aslan stressed that the organization works on implementing many programs aimed at empowering people with disabilities and integrating them into the labor market in a way that guarantees them a decent job with appropriate accommodations. In cooperation with national partners, the ILO also works to design training programs aimed at raising awareness of the rights of workers with disabilities and promoting inclusive practices. Aslan shared examples of some of the national and international projects implemented by the organization in this regard.
At the end of the workshop, participants discussed in small discussion sessions the additional costs borne by people with disabilities, the importance of social security and social protection for people with disabilities, and mechanisms to make working systems more in terms of design, data and evaluation in accordance with international best practices to economically empower people with disabilities and their families to live with dignity and independence.
It is noteworthy that the Global Disability Summit is a unique global mechanism that aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities, and to unify efforts among stakeholders at the global, regional and local levels in disability-inclusive development.