HCD, Shamil Project hold consultation sessions to prepare for World Disability Summit

AMMAN — 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, organised a consultation on “Comprehensive Social Protection for Persons with Disabilities” as part of preparations for the third Global Disability Summit 2025.

The event is scheduled to be held in Berlin and jointly organised by Jordan, Germany and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), according to a statement for The Jordan Times.

The two-day consultation workshop will be attended by the Jordanian Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, representatives of international and government organisations, and a number of civil society institutions.

In her opening speech, Director of the Independent Living Directorate at HCD Rasha 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. 

The summit will see the participation of several 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 summit aims to share information about the global summit, verify the topics identified by organisations 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 mobilisation 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, the statement said.

Khawla Wazni, legal representative and senior engagement manager of Shamil, said that the project aims to consolidate efforts towards enhancing inclusive and sustainable protection systems in Jordan, which constitutes a technical pillar within the Jordan Socio-Economic Resilience Enhancement Project programme.

For her part, Shamil programme 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.

Mark Kara, a disability expert at Shamil, 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.

Kara addressed the additional costs incurred by people with disabilities such as transportation, availability of medicines, hospital appointments, personal care aids and specialised equipment, and the high cost of schooling. 

He pointed 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 healthcare, transportation, jobs, social services, social security, education and training, and housing availability.

Reem Aslan, Gender Specialist and Director of Decent Work for Women Programmes at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States, gave a presentation in which she reviewed international labour standards and social protection for persons with disabilities, and ILO strategies to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities within the work environment.

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. 

Their talks also covered 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, the statement said.