Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please provide a brief summary of the initiative including the problems/challenges it addressed and the solutions that the initiative introduced (300 words maximum)
The new Law conforms to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ratified and published in the Official Gazette in 2008, and given the global long-standing reputation of the Kingdom in respecting its international commitments and empowering its citizens with disabilities in the enjoyment of a barrier-free legislative and practical environment based on equal opportunity and non-discrimination. This Law replaces the old Law of the same name no 31 for the year 2007, after 9 years of its implementation, the need for a revised and updated law became clear given the following reasons:
- The apparent gaps in the provisions of Law No 31 for the Year 2007 (the old law). Therefore, the need was for the development of clear and detailed provisions.
- The overlap in roles and responsibilities of the main authorities and stakeholders.
- The ambiguity in the provisions relating to the mandate of the then-named Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities.
In light of this, the new Law introduced the following:
- New concepts and definitions, including that relating to the person with a disability, free and informed consent, reasonable accommodation and accessibility and violence persons with disabilities
- Specific and time-bound targeted roles and responsibilities for the main authorities and stakeholders, including the line ministries and the HCRD.
a. What are the overall objectives of the initiative?
Please describe the overall objectives of the initiative (200 words maximum)
The new law presents a paradigm shift in the way in which disability is perceived and operationalised by national line ministries and national institutions, whether governmental or non-governmental. This is why the initiative was developed to answer to the needs and gaps of all relevant national stakeholders in the Kingdom in a clear and cohesive manner that allows each relevant authority to carry forward its tasks as a partner in the overall process of disability-inclusive service-provision. This enables these authorities to, each in accordance to its area of expertise and mandate, help create an inclusive Jordanian infrastructure and system that enables all relevant entities to answer to the rights, issues and needs of people with disabilities in a dignified and inclusive manner.
b. How does the initiative fit within the selected category?
Please describe how the initiative is linked to the criteria of the category (200 words maximum)
This initiative/law answers to the first two categories of the Award: Reaching the poorest and most vulnerable and making institutions inclusive and ensuring participation in decision-making . It is the first anti- discrimination document of its kind that is developed to raise the capacity of the Jordanian national infrastructural service delivery so that the poorest and most vulnerable can access the services in a dignified manner on the same basis as others in a transparent and rights-based manner that is also accountable. Developed and reviewed by all concerned sectors of society (children, men, women, parents, professionals, etc.) it ensures a participatory approach to the design, planning and service delivery of disability and developmental focused services. Specifically, the law presents and outlines (per articles 8 and 9) the mandate of the HCD as the disability policy-advocacy organisation that is tasked to serve as a technical focal point for all line ministries and services providers and therefore also includes in the board of trustees of the HCD all relevant experts, including the Government's Human Rights Co-ordinator, as well as families of people with disabilities and people with disabilities themselves, while ensuring a balanced gender representation.
Question 2
The initiative should improve people’s lives, notably by enhancing the contribution of public services to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the SDGs
a. Please explain how the initiative improves the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
The law outlines specific and time-bound outputs and implementation mechanisms that will enable the main service-providers the opportunity to improve their delivery of services not only for people with disabilities but for everyone. In the area of education , the initiative will enable children with disabilities to receive a qualitative form of education based on their own needs per a 10-year action plan on inclusive education that will include amongst other things alternative educational settings to inaccessible schools and will ensure that at least in the initial phases of work, even children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities will be part of mainstream and inclusive education, showing that disability must not be the basis of negative or positive discrimination. It also stipulates that the Ministry of Education is to engage in disability-inclusive educational policy and planning, through enrolling students with disabilities, providing reasonable accommodation and accessible formats (in educational outputs) and ensuring that this is the case even in exams, review of curricula to include disability-inclusive rights and principles and imagery. Thus, the initiative directly answers to goal 4 of quality education as one specific example as to how the law is linked to the SDGs.
Also, HCD and the OHCHR are working to conform the law's outputs with those of the SDGs.
Question 3
The initiative must impact positively a group or groups of the population (i.e. children, women, elderly, people with disability, etc) and address a significant issue of public service delivery within the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant issue related to the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
In Jordan, and according to a 2015 Population and Housing Census, for those 5 years and over, 11.2% of the population are people with disabilities. This means that over one million people are 'disabled', and if those under the ages of 5 are counted, then the percentage is much higher, reaching approximately 15-17% of the population. The primary issue addressed by the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities No 20/2017 is that it represents a strategic framework through which:
-discrimination on the grounds of disability is rendered a violation of human rights that is punishable by fine or even prison when violated
-disability-focused planning and implementation is perceived and operated an integral part of the overall development process, and as both a social issue and a cost-effective economical issue as well as a human rights one
-people with disabilities and their organisations are key to the overall process of planning, design and implementation of service-delivery and sustainability
- disability issues are part and parcel of the overall development of society as an inclusive and mainstream element of such planning
b. Please explain how the initiative has impacted positively a group or groups of the population within the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
The initiative has impacted a large group of society- people with disabilities, their families and their organisations, since for their first time in the history of Jordan and the region, discrimination on the basis of disability can be countered with practical means and solutions. For more, see questions 3 a.
Question 4
The initiative must present an innovative idea, a distinctively new approach, or a unique policy or approach implemented in order to realize the SDGs in the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain in which way the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
Per the previous answers, not only is the initiative the first ever anti-discrimination law in Jordan or the region; one that includes for the first time specific and time-bound roles and responsibilities for the main stakeholders, as well as clear stipulations on a new definition of disability that takes into account physical, technological and behavioral barriers and establishes a comprehensive definition of violence that entails depriving a person with a disability from a certain right or freedom on the grounds of disability. Finally it introduces the concept of free and informed consent.
It is also the result of a highly participatory process that spanned four years and actively included ALL relevant entities and individuals, including representatives, both men and women, from:
- People with disabilities
- Ministries and official and non-governmental national institutions
- Academic institutions
- Disability-related NGOs and DPOs
- Civil society organisations working in human rights and in development
- Individuals
- Families
- Children and youth
- International organisations in Jordan, the region and beyond
- Donor community
- Agencies of the United Nations
Question 4b
b. Please describe if the innovation is original or if it is an adaptation from other contexts (If it is known)? (200 words maximum)
The initiative is original as it is the first of its kind in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and in the Arab region. That said, it must be noted that the process of development benefited greatly from international expertise and models, including those such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the British Disability Discrimination Act , the Japanese laws, European Union models and so on.
Question 4c
c. What resources (i.e. financial, human , material or other resources, etc) were used to implement the initiative? (200 words maximum)
The initiative was developed using different resources, human, financial and material resources. It involved an initial desk review of ALL relevant national and international legislation, and a mixture of one-to-one and group meetings, online and other consultations. It was after all overseen by a higher national steering legal committee comprising different entities. This Committee plus the President and staff of HCD sought the active feedback and involvement of all those outlined in question 4/a above. And to ensure maximum outreach, the team conducted three national consultative sessions in the southern, northern and central regions of the country. In addition, the first complete draft of the law was placed on HCD's social media platforms for direct citizen engagement and feedback for more than one whole month. And after submission to the Prime Minister it was placed on the social media platforms of the Jordanian Opinion and Legislation Bureau for further citizen engagement, after which the Prime Minister submitted it to the Parliament, where it was further deliberated by the two houses of parliament and then endorsed by Parliament and finally His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein.
Question 5
The initiative should be adaptable to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions). There may already be evidence that it has inspired similar innovations in other public-sector institutions within a given country, region or at the global level.
a. Has the initiative been transferred to other contexts?
No
Given the highly consultative and participatory process outlined in section 4, both the process of development and the content can be beneficial. The fact that it:
- Adopts a new definition of disability that takes into account physical, technological and behavioral barriers.
- Is the first anti-discrimination law in the Arab region.
- Sets specific, time-bound roles and responsibilities for main stakeholders.
-Establishes a comprehensive definition of violence that entails depriving a person with a disability from a certain right or freedom on the grounds of disability.
- Introduces the concept of free and informed consent.
- Introduces the concept and formation of an Equal Opportunities Committee tasked with investigating complaints at or relating to work, with the EOC comprising the relevant entities with the authority and oversight for such a mandate.
are all new themes to be learned from.
Question 6
The initiative should be able to be sustained over a significant period of time.
a. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable (covering the social, economic and environmental aspects) (300 words maximum)
The initiative being a law/legislation will naturally be sustainable. That said, given that it focuses on all key areas of development and includes, in its guiding principles of article 4, the following:
"a. The respect for the inherent rights and dignity, individual autonomy and freedom of choice of persons with disabilities.
b. The participation of persons with disabilities and their organizations in policymaking, drawing up plans, programs, and decision-making operations related to them.
c. Not to discriminate against persons with disabilities on the basis of, or because of, disability.
d. The acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and difference.
e. The inclusion of the rights and issues of persons with disabilities into national policies, strategies, plans, and programs as well as the state budget.
f. Equality between men and women with disabilities in terms of rights and duties.
g. Equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.
h. To ensure the rights of children with disabilities, develop their abilities and skills, and enhance their inclusion and participation in the community.
i. To ensure that reasonable accommodation and accessible formats, accessibility and universal design are provided to persons with disabilities on the grounds that these constitute the perquisite requirements needed for exercising their fundamental freedoms and rights.
j. The removal of physical and behavioral barriers for persons with disabilities, that include a lack or absence of reasonable accommodation or accessible formats or accessibility as well as individual and institutional behaviors and discriminatory practices on the basis of disability."
it includes the principle of inclusive development as a core aspect to all its outputs.
b. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable in terms of durability in time (300 words maximum)
Yes, it is also sustainable in terms of durability seeing that it includes specific implantation mechanisms that are tied to a specific timeframe, including in four central areas or themes being: inclusive education, accessibility, deinstitutionalisation and diagnosis, with each area having a specific plan of action to be implemented in 10 years.
Question 7
The initiative should have gone through a formal evaluation, showing some evidence of impact on improving people’s lives.
a. Has the initiative been formally evaluated?
No
Question 8
The initiative must demonstrate that it has engaged various actors such as from other institutions, civil society, or the private sector, when possible.
a. The 2030 Development Agenda puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, coordination, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe what stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative. Please also highlight their roles and contributions (300 words maximum)
As relayed the initiative was the result of a highly participatory process that spanned four years and actively included ALL relevant entities and individuals, including representatives, both men and women, from:
- People with disabilities
- Ministries and official and non-governmental national institutions
- Academic institutions
- Disability-related NGOs and DPOs
- Civil society organisations working in human rights and in development
- Individuals
- Families
- Children and youth
- International organisations in Jordan, the region and beyond
- Donor community
- Agencies of the United Nations
The initiative was developed using different resources, human, financial and material resources. It involved an initial desk review of ALL relevant national and international legislation, and a mixture of one-to-one and group meetings, online and other consultations and feedback. It was after all overseen by a higher national steering legal committee comprising different entities. This Committee plus the President and staff of HCD sought the active feedback and involvement of all those outlined in question 4/a above. And to ensure maximum outreach, the team conducted three national consultative sessions in the southern, northern and central regions of the country. In addition, the first complete draft of the law was placed on HCD's social media platforms for direct citizen engagement and feedback for almost two months. The HCD even deliberated the draft law at international events and platforms including the UN Conference of States Parties to the CRPD. And after submission to the Prime Minister it was placed on the social media platforms of the Jordanian Opinion and Legislation Bureau for further citizen engagement, after which the Prime Minister submitted it to the Parliament, where it was further deliberated by the two houses of parliament and then endorsed by Parliament and finally His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein.
Question 9
a. Please describe the key lessons learned, and any view you have on how to further improve the initiative (200 words maximum)
The key lessons learned is that participation is integral to the development and implementation of any initiative if it is to be successful. Given that the law only entered into force on 1st September 2017, the bulk of the work now lies in ensuring that the plans for implementation are actively developed with the direct involvement of everyone concerned. The issue of monitoring the process and evaluating the outputs is also key to this success. That is why HCD was quick to restructure its organisation per its new mandate including the following departments in is new make up, in addition to the core ones working in communication and media, administrative and financial as well as legal affairs:
- Accreditation Department
-Accessibility and Universal Design Department
- Follow-up on Inclusive Education Plan Department
-Follow-up on Independent Living Plan Department
- Policies and Institutional Development Department
- Monitoring and Coordination Department