What the agreement commits to
According to the state news agency Petra, the council will help finance personal assistant services under specified regulatory criteria. The agreement also supports teams converting residential centres into inclusive day centres and provides for technical cooperation and evaluation. Petra’s account announces these commitments without specifying a universal entitlement, an allocation of assistance hours or the number of people already receiving the funded service. [1]
A reform that began before 2026
The national deinstitutionalisation strategy sets out a transition towards support within families and local communities, including a transfer of resources from institutions. A joint ministry and council statement identifies the strategy as dating from 2019. That statement also acknowledges objections from some families and residential-centre operators, while describing financial support, follow-up visits and alternatives to residential care. It is the authorities’ account of the reform and the concerns surrounding it. [2][3]
Women developing their own voice
A different perspective comes from Inclusion International’s report of 18 December 2025 on a project carried out with Humanity & Inclusion and funded by the European Union. At the Tafelah Centre, the organisation supported 18 women with intellectual disabilities through its Empower Us programme to explore choices, communication and participation in community life. Staff also learned to support the women’s decisions.
The report marks the end of the three-year project and describes stronger self-advocacy, family training and support for community organisations. It does not establish that the centre had closed or that all residents had moved out. Its most concrete account of change concerns people gaining more influence over decisions affecting them.
Personal assistance means control over support
The UN disability rights committee’s General Comment No. 5 provides a useful standard for understanding the service being discussed. Personal assistance is support directed by the person using it, with control over who provides it and how, when and where it is delivered. Supported decision-making can enable that control.
Moving to a family home or attending a day centre does not by itself demonstrate this degree of choice. Jordan’s agreement connects funding with community services; the meaning of independent living rests on the person’s authority over their daily life, including the assistance needed to take part in it. [5][1]