Persons With Disabilities Struggle For Decent Life

Despite the endorsement of the Law for the Rights of People with Disabilities (PWD) two years ago, some persons with physical and mental disabilities in Jordan still struggle for a decent life.

Hussam, who is partially paralysed, was fired from his job at a private company last week for reasons “related to his disability”.

“I worked in the company for almost two years and they suddenly decided I was no longer fit for the job,” the 30-year-old university graduate, who did not wish to reveal his full name, told The Jordan Times on Monday.

With firing Hussam, its only employee with disabilities, the firm is no longer in compliance with Article 4 of the 2007 law, which stipulates that public and private sector establishments with 25-50 workers must employ at least one PWD.

The two-day event seeks to measure the commitment of the public and private sectors in applying the provisions of the strategy’s first phase, which concludes at the end of the year.

At the opening ceremony yesterday, HRH Prince Raad, Chief Chamberlain and president of the Higher Council for the Affairs of People with Disabilities said the strategy aims to provide the disabled with all means to ensure their full rights.

Highlighting the Kingdom’s commitment to safeguard PWD, Prince Raad noted that Jordan was among the first countries to sign the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He added that the election of Jordanian Mohammad Tarawneh as president of the international monitoring committee for the convention reflects the Kingdom’s dedication to enhance the life of this segment of society.

“The aim of this conference is to measure the public and private sectors’ obligation to apply the provisions of the strategy,” the Prince told attendees during the ceremony, which was also attended by HRH Princess Sumaya and HRH Prince Mired.

Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Nayef Qadi, who inaugurated the two-day conference on behalf of His Majesty King Abdullah, underlined that providing care for the disabled is an integral part of the Kingdom’s development process.

On the sidelines of the conference, Mohammad Saqer, president of the conference’s preparatory committee, said 15,000 students with disabilities are receiving education at 255 specialized centres and schools, compared to 1,000 PWD at 163 centres prior to the strategy’s implementation.

Underlining the achievements of the strategy’s first phase, Saqer pointed out that the government enacted the 2007 Law for the Rights of People with Disabilities, which aims to ensure PWD engagement and integration into public life and assure them opportunities for employment, education, healthcare and rehabilitation.

In terms of education, he highlighted that university tuition fees for PWD have been reduced by 90 per cent, indicating that there are a total of 255 institutions and centres in the Kingdom currently providing services to around 79,000 persons with disabilities.

The national strategy seeks to reduce the disability rate in the Kingdom by 5 per cent in its first phase and 15 per cent by the end of the second through promoting early detection, supporting health awareness programmes and establishing sections at healthcare centres for the detection and treatment of disabilities.

It also calls for providing financial support to institutions that recruit PWD and providing the disabled with financial and technical assistance to help them implement income-generating projects.

In addition, the strategy calls for environmental and structural changes to buildings and public facilities to comply with the needs of PWD.