Gov’t marks Human Rights Day with pledges to do more

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Friday said the government is moving steadily towards improving the human rights situation, in an effort to make Jordan among the first countries in the region to draw a comprehensive human rights plan.

Mulki told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, annually observed on December 10, that the government took the necessary procedures to implement the recommendations of the Human Rights National Strategy, which was endorsed and referred to His Majesty King Abdullah.

In this regard, the premier said that a committee was formed, headed by the government’s human rights coordinator, to follow up on recommendations in this regard and the government's measures to translate them into facts on the ground.

Marking the Human Rights Day comes in remembrance of the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly, according to the UN’s website.

The government’s measures related to human rights focused on paying special attention to people with disabilities, the elderly and the vulnerable, such as by giving them priority when served at public agencies, Mulki noted.

Marking the occasion, the office of the government’s human rights coordinator issued a special report on the key government steps taken in 2016 to safeguard human rights, Petra reported on Friday. 

The report underlined the Ministry of Justice’s launch of several e-services to obtain documents, as well as establishing an electronic connection between the ministry and the Public Security Department (PSD).

As for the Labour Ministry, the report noted that it established a unit to combat child labour and take legal action against their employers, while it set up a special unit concerned with finding jobs for people with disabilities, in addition to holding a media and awareness campaign to increase women’s presence in the labour force.

The report said that PSD’s Administration of Reform and Rehabilitation Centres welcomed the visits of 216 public departments, international organisations and civil community institutions, while the Family Protection Department dealt with 4,020 cases related to domestic violence.

The Health Ministry said that 97 per cent of underprivileged people are covered by insurance, and that 45.5 per cent of citizens have civil health insurance.

Meanwhile, the Public Sector Development Ministry sought to increase women’s chances of occupying leadership positions, by launching several programmes that aimed at building the leadership capabilities of women, targeting some 380 women in the public sector, according to the report.

As for the Finance Ministry, it “sought to achieve social security and guarantee citizens’ right to food, through allocating funds to support and subsidise basic food items, as well as financing the establishment of small- and medium-sized projects”.

The report also showed that the Independent Election Commission was keen on ensuring the right of the vulnerable segments to take part in the September parliamentary elections, and commended measures it took to facilitate voting for the elderly and illiterate people.

The Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities allocated a specialised service office to improve accessibility, the document said. 

The government’s human rights coordinator, Basel Tarawneh, told Petra that this year’s theme was: “Stand up for someone’s rights today!”, as adopted by the UN General Assembly. 

Meanwhile, the Jordan Society for Human Rights said that the world celebrates the 68th anniversary for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with “deep anxiety”, due to the increasing and dangerous violations to basic human rights resulting from policies of many regional countries and governments.

In a statement, the society referred to the Israeli occupation that uproots Palestinians from their homes and lands and violates the sanctity of their holy sites, in addition to legalising Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.