New anti-discriminatory law seeks to improve lives of people with disabilities

AMMAN — The first anti-discriminatory law targetting people with disabilities made major changes in legislations to facilitate and enhance the daily lives of people with disabilities, according to Senator Muhannad Azzeh. 

During a press conference Wednesday to present the new act that entered into effect on September 1, Azzeh, secretary general of the Higher Council for Affairs of People with Disabilities (HCD), said it holds  ministries and public institutions responsible for shaping strategies, plans and programmes to facilitate the lives of people with disabilities. 

The new law, which had been under way since 2012, outlined the responsibility and duties of each institution towards people with disabilities.

It ensures that people with disabilities receive equal services in a legislative environment that protects their rights in all sectors, according to the senator. 

The law also states that any action depriving a person with a disability from a right or a freedom is a type of violence and a legal violation, Azzeh said.

Those who commit violations against people with disabilities should be punished with imprisonment of less than a year, and those who refuse to employ a qualified person with a disability will be fined between JD3,000 and JD5,000, he noted.

The education, health, tourism, facilitation and accessibility, tax-exemptions, employment, sports and media sectors are all responsible for providing services within the timeframe defined by the law, the senator added. 

For its part, the Ministry of Education must provide reasonable facilities for people with disabilities in government and private schools in order to prevent exclusion of any student based on his or her physical capabilities. The ministry will also be responsible for editing the curricula with concepts that improve the rights of people with disabilities, and to bar licences of inaccessible schools. 

Additionally, higher education will be made more accessible to people with disabilities as the act stipulates that they will only pay 10 to 25 per cent of the fees set for public universities programmes. 

 Health insurance will cover wider range treatments such as physiotherapy and better medical services.

A new ID card will be issued for people with disabilities to assist them in accessing educational and health services as well as tax exemptions, he noted.

As for the Ministry of Tourism, it will be responsible for making tourist and archeological sites accessible for people with disabilities.

The law also obligates the Greater Amman Municipality and Central Traffic Department with providing traffic lights  with an inbuilt sound system for blind people and special signs that mark the beginning and the end of the road. 

“I won’t say that people will feel the difference next year, but surely, difference will be prevalent in three to four years,” Azzeh stated.