Victim assistance commitments

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is responsible for a significant number of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors who are in need. Jordan has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

The National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) recorded no new mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Jordan.[1] The last known casualties in Jordan were in 2011 when six casualties were recorded.[2]

Compared to 2006–2009, the number of casualties caused by mine/ERW greatly decreased in 2010 and 2011.[3]

The NCDR recorded 950 mine/ERW casualties (122 killed; 799 injured; 29 unknown) between 1948 and December 2013.[4]

Victim Assistance

The total number of recorded mine/ERW survivors in Jordan is 799.

Victim assistance coordination

In May 2013, NCDR began a victim needs assessment survey to assist with planning of victim assistance interventions in future.[5]

The Higher Council for the Affairs of People with Disabilities (HCD) is the national focal point on victim assistance.[6] Victim assistance is coordinated through the Steering Committee on Survivor and Victim Assistance, chaired by the HCD, which includes governmental and non-governmental representatives as well as survivors. The HCD also serves as the focal point for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[7] Victim assistance is included in the National Mine Action Plan 2010–2015.[8]

National victim assistance standards drafted by NCDR that outlined the roles and responsibilities of all victim assistance partners in Jordan, as well as prosthetic and orthotic standards,[9] were not finalized in 2013.[10] Victim assistance is also integrated into the National Disability Strategy.[11]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In 2013, Jordan took steps toward fulfilling its victim assistance commitments by increasing the availability of physical rehabilitation and economic reintegration opportunities. However, limited funding made the provision of new services difficult.[12]

NCDR advocated for the provision of equitable medical and rehabilitation services for both civilian and military survivors. In an effort to address the disparity in services between military and civilian survivors,[13] a victim assistance capacity-building project for the northern region of Jordan launched in September 2011.[14] As part of this project, in 2013 the NCDR continued to support the prosthetic and orthotic center at the Princess Basma Hospital in Irbid established by the NCDR with financial support through the Polus Center in 2012.[15] In 2013, with financial support from the government of Canada, the NCDR provided additional equipment and materials to the center, which serves civilian mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities.[16] Several workshops were also organized in 2013 to train prosthetics and orthotic technicians of the center.[17]

NCDR continued its economic reintegration project in collaboration with the Jordan Agricultural Credit Corporation[18] : 60 survivors received micro-credit loans to establish income-generating projects, which was more than double the number from the previous year.[19] LLCR also provided training, rehabilitation, and activities for confidence-building and social reintegration in remote areas.[20] In 2014, NCDR planned to reach at least an additional 10 survivors through the income-generating program.[21]

The 2007 law on the rights of persons with disabilities generally provides equal rights to persons with disabilities, but such legal protections were not upheld. Furthermore, it still lacked regulations to support its implementation. In 2013, persons with disabilities continued to face problems in obtaining employment and accessing education, healthcare, transportation, and other services, particularly in rural areas.[22] In 2013, the government endorsed instructions giving tariff exemptions for the vehicles of persons with disabilities and reduced the costs of hiring domestic help for persons with disabilities. Approximately 10,000 persons with disabilities (some 17% of the total estimated population with disabilities) benefited from these measures.[23]

Jordan ratified the CRPD in March 2008.