Opening remarks Ms. Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Resident Representative in Jordan at Inception workshop UNPRPD project “Climate change, disability inclusion and intersectionality”

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to you and all our partners, gathered here today

The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Ministry of the Environment and other institutions working on climate action

Members from the Jordan disability coalition, organisations of persons with disabilities and civil society

The National Centre for Human Rights

and members of the United Nations family

On behalf of the three agencies, UNDP, ILO and OHCHR, it is with great pleasure that we start consultations today on a project on “Climate change, disability inclusion and intersectionality”, at a time when the world is grappling with the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. A crisis that is already affecting the rights of all people worldwide.

Climate change poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the world and has implications on the full enjoyment of human rights. Just like other crises experienced in the past, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of climate change are far-reaching, affecting vulnerable communities the hardest.

Even within the same country, the impacts of climate change are felt unevenly due to structural inequalities based on gender or socioeconomic status for example. Consequently vulnerable groups like persons with disabilities are at an increased risk of the adverse impacts of climate change, including threats to their health, food security, access to water, energy, and sanitation, and livelihoods, particularly when those resources are scarce, like water in the case of Jordan.

In the case of natural disasters but also due to rising temperatures, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, flooding and landslides, biodiversity loss, persons with disabilities will be more likely disproportionately affected. Persons with disabilities might face possible barriers to evacuation, have limited access to information and limited access to food and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, health-care services and medicines, education and training, adequate housing and decent work.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of which the Secretary General of the Higher Council, H.E Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh, is a distinguished member, therefore calls upon States to incorporate and mainstream disability inclusion in their policies, programmes and actions on climate change.

I am pleased to see today experts dealing with climate change, the environment and persons with disabilities coming together as a first step in a project where we seek to learn from each other so as to develop together guidance on how to ensure the meaningful participation in laws, policies, frameworks and practices to design inclusive climate action. We need a concerted effort to bring about real change in addressing the climate crisis, including building bridges between people, institutions, businesses, and governments. And given the disproportionate impact of climate change on persons with disabilities, the approach to effectively addressing the issues posed by climate change, must embrace the principles of disability inclusion and intersectionality, recognizing and addressing the multiple layers of vulnerability that individuals may experience.

As you all know, Jordan together with Germany is co-hosting next year’s Global Disability Summit. Our discussions and collaboration today and in the future on this project can surely feed into that Summit. The UN family in Jordan is also planning other initiatives in close cooperation with the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prior and after the Summit with assistance from the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) to which we are grateful also for supporting this project.

At the end, it is our fervent hope that we work together to adopt a human rights-based approach to climate action which contributes to more ambitious, effective and ultimately more sustainable climate action; places emphasis on efficient data collection and disaggregation by disability; ensures the meaningful, informed and effective participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations that includes enhancing their social protection and climate resilience, as well as raising awareness with emergency responders and humanitarian and development actors.

I wish you very fruitful deliberations.

Thank you.