United Nations Resident Coordinator in Jordan Remarks at the International Day of Persons with Disability

Your Royal Highness Prince Mired Bin Raad,

Excellencies, partners, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honored to join this special occasion convened by the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The global theme for the Day this year is: “United in action to rescue and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for, with and by persons with disabilities.” And we see that more than 1.3 billion people experience significant disability today, which represents 16% of the global population. One in five women globally has a disability. An estimated 240 million children worldwide have a disability. In Jordan, an estimated 11% of the population are persons with disabilities.

Worldwide, persons with disabilities face greater challenges to access the peace, prosperity and sustainable planet promised by the Sustainable Development Goals. Considering that only 15% of these Goals are on target, we see the world is seriously behind. And yet we know that persons with disabilities are even further behind. This is even more true in situations of disaster and conflict, such as we now see in Gaza, across the region, and in too many parts of the world.

When we look to our west, across the river, we see a conflict so severe that it seriously risks aggravating existing threats to international peace and security. For this reason, the UN Secretary General took the rare step of invoking article 99 of the UN Charter, calling on the Security Council to act immediately to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.

As highlighted by the UN Secretary-General [in his address to the Security Council] last Friday, we see from the conflict in Gaza a horrific example of how not all human beings are able to access their rights fully and equally. We see a catastrophic situation where 2.2 million people are under a daily bombardment and have to flee repeatedly for safety. For persons with disabilities in Gaza, this is not just difficult and traumatic, it can be life threatening and, in some case, almost impossible.

Families with persons with disabilities, are making impossible choices, including whether and how to flee with a loved one that may required extra assistance and time to move, risking being hit on the way, or to stay at home with their family members and risk being hit at home.

Allow me here to repeat the UN Secretary-General calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The people are staring into the abyss. The violence must stop.

We must work together to improve the situation. We can do better, and we must do better.

For, with and by persons with disabilities, in Gaza, in Jordan, and worldwide.

We need laser-like focus on the needs and rights of persons with disabilities – not only as beneficiaries, but as active contributors across social, economic and political life. This means ensuring that persons with disabilities are at every decision-making table, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and across efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals — from poverty eradication, to health, education and climate action. It means heeding the call of the disability movement: ‘Nothing about us, without us.’

Jordan stands out as a leader on disability rights in the region. It was one of the first States to come to the table at the start of the process that resulted in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Jordan was also among the first to ratify it. This commitment is reflected in the sophisticated body of law that protects the full range of rights of persons with disabilities in Jordan, including the 2017 national disability legislation. The explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability in legislation is particularly welcomed.

Systematic efforts to combat stigma must now accompany this. The UN and its experts have heard from persons with disabilities in Jordan on how stigma and bias keep them at home, out of school and employment and isolated from their communities.

Looking ahead, let us consider what we can do to improve the situation for, with and by persons with disabilities. What actions can we take to improve the situation in Jordan, in Gaza, and in conflict zones, natural disasters and other emergencies worldwide?

We need immediate action but also sustained action. Not only do people in Gaza and other emergencies need immediate help to meet their unique needs, they need sustained effort from all of us. Here allow me to echo the words of the Secretary-General of the Council who just highlighted the fact that there will surely be an increase in disabilities among people in Gaza as a result of this conflict. So we need to ensure sustained effort by us all to fully address these needs and ensure their rights in the weeks, months and years to come.

The United Nations in Jordan is proud to work in partnership with others, such as the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disability, the Government of Jordan, members of Parliament, CSOs, communities and most of all with persons with disabilities themselves, in addressing these challenges.   

I would like to conclude by recognizing and applaud the amazing work that each of you do every day to advance the situation in Jordan, and to reiterate the UN’s commitment to ensure that all persons – in Jordan, in Gaza and beyond – live in equal dignity and rights. Only through a commitment to achieve all access to equal dignity and equal rights for all people regardless of their nationality, location, religion and gender, or ability. And it is only through equal dignity and equal rights for all that we will be able to live in a world with lasting peace and prosperity for all.