Jordan wins Roosevelt disability award for best efforts at following UN programme

Jordan will be honoured tomorrow at a ceremony at the United Nations for winning the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award for its exemplary work on improving the lives of its disabled citizens, as set out in a UN programme of action.

His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan will accept the award, which comprises a specially commissioned bust of former United States President Roosevelt by artist Jo Davidson and $50,000 for a worthy disability cause in Jordan, which will be identified at the presentation.

"Jordan, one of the first Middle Eastern countries to enact disability-specific legislation and introduce building codes aimed at accessibility, is being recognized for a wide range of activities aimed at improving the lives of its people with disabilities," said the World Committee on Disability and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the sponsors of the award.

The prize was instituted in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.