Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan's ratification of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reflect the Hashemite's leadership eagerness to enhance and protect the rights of persons with disabilities, a UN official said Tuesday.

During a ceremony hosted by Jordan's Higher Council for Affairs of Persons with Disabilities marking the 10th anniversary of signing of the convention, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, Maria Soledad Cisternas, highlighted the Kingdom's and submission of its report of on time.

In an interview with Petra, Soledad said that the biggest challenge for the committee is the implementation of Article 12, which reaffirms that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law, and recognizes their legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life. The UN official explained that her committee's role is to monitor and evaluate of reports submitted by state parties, which identify the situation of disability in any country.

Soledad stressed the importance of the final reports issued by the committee, saying it considered as a roadmap to improve services provided to people with disabilities.

She reaffirmed the role of civil society organizations in consultation and providing advice to the government for the implementation of the convention. The media, she added, is also an important tool in promoting positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with disabilities .

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a human rights agreement, but it differs in substance from other conventions in that in the preamble, it asserts that the concept of disability is still subject to evolution. It also recognizes the global nature of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and their indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness.

The convention assigned a series of articles on civil political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as articles on women and children with disabilities.

Jordan was one of the first countries that adopted the convention, and expressed commitment to implementing its terms and achieving its goals of protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Jordan is committed that they fully enjoy human rights and basic freedoms. The convention was then published in the Official Gazette to become an integral part of the national legislation.