On December 3th 2021 Jordan celebrated, the national day of persons with disabilities which happens on December 3th each year. This year celebration focuses on the leadership of persons with disabilities and their participation to reach an inclusive, accessible and sustainable world for everyone after COVID- 19 pandemic. The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 1992 was proclaimed by The United Nations General Assembly resolution (47/3) with the aim of promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and raising awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Abla Amawi-Secretary General of the Higher Population council stressed that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, had advanced the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, along with the framework for the implementation of the Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 and other relevant international frameworks, which stressed the importance of empowering persons with disabilities and taking appropriate measures for their full participation in all aspects of life and development on an equal footing with others.

Amawi pointed out that on the global level the number of persons with disabilities is estimated around one billion person which equals (%15) of the entire world population (%80) of them lives in developing countries and it is estimated that (%46) of elderly (60 year-or over) are persons with disabilities moreover, it is probable that one of five women will suffer from a type of disability during her life, Amawi also added that according to the global levels (%50) of persons with disabilities can’t afford health care.

As for Jordan Amawi indicated that there were no updated statistics on the number of persons with disabilities, but according to the 2015 General Population and Housing Census about (%11.1) of the total population in Jordan aged (5 years and over) suffered from some form of physical function difficulty with regards to Jordan population it has (%11.2) among Jordanians and (%10.8)among non-Jordanians, it has been also found that incidence of career difficulties among Jordanian males is higher than among Jordanian females) %11.7( among males(%10.6) females, and with regard to the severity of disability, (%4,48) of persons with disabilities are considered to have severe disabilities. The incidence of disability varied among governorates. The highest prevalence was 12.1%, followed by the provinces of Zarqa and Aqaba with (%11.9) as for the lowest prevalence Almafraq province rate was (9.3) and only (%67.2) of Jordanians with disabilities are health insured.

Amawi noted that Jordan has made great strides in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in terms of legislation, strategies, government policies and programmes of action through the efforts of all relevant institutions, which are in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Jordan's Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities No. 20 of 2017. However, significant challenges remain for them for example in the area of school enrolment of children with disabilities, the 10-year Integrated Education Strategy Document (2019-2029) showed that only (21,895) students with disabilities were enrolled in school year (2018/2019). The statistics of the Ministry of Social Development for (2018) also show that (5859) students with disabilities are provided with service in the centers and institutions of the ministry and the private sector which shows that only (%1.9) of the total number of students with disabilities receive education services which means that the current educational system was not able to response probably to the needs of persons with disabilities. The results of the 2015 General Population and Housing Census indicated that third of (13year or over) illiterate Jordanians are persons with disabilities which is about (%36.8) percent.

In the employment area the rates of The employment of persons with disabilities are very low only (%10,2) of the total Jordanian population (15years or over) are employees, bearing in mind that article (25) of The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act requires enterprises in the governmental and non-governmental sectors with at least 25 or no more than 50 workers to employ at least one person with disability and if the number of workers is over 50 It must allocate up to 4% of its vacancies to them.

With regards to violence against persons with disabilities a policy paper issued recently in (2021) by the center of information and research at king Hussein institute under the name “ Gender Based Violence And Discrimination Against Women And Girls With Disabilities : Access To Justice In Jordan ” revealed the women and girls with disabilities were exposed to various types of violence such as domestic abuse and forced segregation by family members, also it mentioned that (%71.7) of women and girls with disabilities lack protection system to protect themselves when they are exposed to violence moreover, the policy paper indicated that (%42.5) of them don’t seek help and protection while (%61) of them are not aware of the existence of legal aid providers, as for women and girls with disabilities access to justice, Judicial facilities and courts were found poor in environmental, physical development and accessibility.

Abla Amawi-General Secretary Of The Higher Population Council pointed out that COVID-19 pandemic affected economic social health areas of all Jordanian citizens and in particular, those with disabilities where a series of challenges emerged during the pandemic, namely, the lack of updated data on persons with disabilities in service institutions and failure to include in e-services and it manuals that were adopted by institutions during the pandemic as access requirements for persons with disabilities, the results of an assessment of the impact of the pandemic on a sample of families with disabilities in Jordan in 2020 also showed that (%78) of these families lost their jobs during the lockdown period and (%79) of these families didn’t receive any additional support during the pandemic, and (% 88) of the individuals with disabilities in the study sample didn’t have access to health facilities.

The Higher Population Council recommended working on activating the provisions of rights of persons with disabilities Act and the importance of a national register of persons with disabilities containing all detailed information on this category, including violence related information, and it called for an integrated approach to ensure that persons with disabilities are included in all policies, strategies, manuals, protection protocols and prevention of violence which is a prerequisite for supporting human rights to achieve the goal of the sustainable development agenda 2030 that is no one should be left behind. Committing to the implantation of rights of persons with disabilities is not only a matter of justice it resembles a future investment, persons with disabilities should be empowered to participate in finding necessary solutions and harnessing their skills and abilities to achieve the desired inclusiveness