Germany praises Jordan's push to help world's disabled

Minister lauds kingdom's efforts with King Abdullah II set to secure key aid pledge

Jordan's King Abdullah II will open a disability summit in Berlin next week with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Reuters

A German minister has lauded efforts by Jordan to help disabled people, as the countries push to to reroute billions of global aid dollars to those with disabilities.

King Abdullah II will co-host a summit in Berlin next week where a pledge will be made to dedicate 15 per cent of aid projects to the disabled. Jordan is representing the developing world at the talks, with Germany the voice of rich countries in Europe and North America.

Jochen Flasbarth, a German state secretary for development, told The National that the "first impetus" for the 15 per cent pledge came from Jordan. He described Prince Mired, a Jordanian royal who has led preparations for the talks, as a "very credible advocate" for the issue.

"We didn’t have to find any compromise. I think it is very intuitive, very reasonable," said Mr Flasbarth, a veteran of difficult UN talks between the world's rich and poor. "It was not a negotiation in the arm-wrestling sense I know from many climate conferences."

Museum visit

Mr Flasbarth said he was impressed on a visit to Amman by "surprising examples" of inclusivity for disabled people. At the Jordan Museum, which houses precious archaeological finds from thousands of years of Middle East history, he noticed that copies of historic exhibits were available for people to touch.

"That is not something that affects people’s immediate outlook in terms of daily survival, but it shows how there is no limit to inclusion," he said. "Human rights must be fulfilled in all dimensions, including for example in these cultural ones."

German development minister Jochen Flasbarth was impressed by a visit to the Jordan Museum in Amman. Alamy

Organisers of the two-day summit want it to be an "eye-opener" at which governments learn about the discrimination faced by disabled people. Germany's outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz will open the talks with King Abdullah on Tuesday.

A 2006 treaty banning discrimination against disabled people "may be law, but it is up to states and governments to implement it", said Dinah Radtke, a German disability activist. "There are no sanctions and the whole thing is a bit difficult."

King Abdullah, who has frequently visited Europe to push EU states to step up Middle East peace efforts, will hold talks with Mr Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier while in Berlin. He will also visit Bulgaria, said the Royal Hashemite Court.

The disability talks are expected to end with a nine-point Amman-Berlin Declaration that will include the 15 per cent pledge. It will say that countries should "allocate the maximum available domestic resources" to the field.

Britain is facing a backlash after announcing cuts to disability benefits. The summit in Berlin will end with a pledge to refocus aid projects on helping the handicapped. EPA

The foreign aid landscape has been shaken up by US President Donald Trump's purge of the USAID agency. Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also announced cuts in foreign aid to pay for increased military spending, as well as cuts to disability benefits.

Nevertheless the disability pledge will have a 2028 deadline as countries are asked both to "focus current resources on disability inclusion" and to "dedicate more resources to this purpose".

The summit is the third in a series that started in 2017 with a focus on disabled people in poorer countries. The first was held by the UK and Kenya, and the second by Norway and Ghana.

"I think I can say, with all due respect to the previous two summits, that none has been organised as collaboratively with the partner country as we are doing with Jordan, or Jordan with us," Mr Flasbarth said. "From the start it was a collaborative consideration of how we can contribute to sending a really strong signal from Berlin."