King Abdullah of Jordan digitally met with distinguished Jordanians with disabilities alongside Queen Rania, Prince Mired bin Raad and Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi on Monday.
His Majesty commended his people for their determination and expressed his pride for their accomplishments. The King told those in attendance: “Each one of you is a success story.”
He also requested that the guests share their stories with their fellow Jordanians as inspiration and heard some of their stories firsthand on Monday. They also thanked the King for his support of those with disabilities.
One person in attendance, Al Mutassim Billah Abu Mahfouth, has tetraplegia and has had problems speaking since childhood. He has written two books by using his nose to type. Another, Islam Zghoul developed the first sign language dictionary to include terms for the fields of human rights and law; he was one of the first deaf IT graduates. A woman named Sireen Qubbaeen – who has a child with an intellectual disability – helped to employ 13 people with disabilities amidst the global pandemic.
Later that day on Instagram, Queen Rania called the conversation inspiring and said: “Your accomplishments give us immense pride!”
Prince Mired spoke and addressed the need for more to be done for those with disabilities; he serves as the President of the HCD.
After the meeting, King Abdullah promised to follow up with Jordan’s Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD) regarding the issues discussed during the video conference.