Alazzeh returned from Egypt to his homeland with a Ph.D., which he obtained with distinction and for which he earned the award for best thesis for 2002. He thought this would enable him to find a job easily. He wanted to teach at a university because he was fond of research and academic life. He was surprised that public and private universities welcomed him as soon as they received his CV and certificates, only to decline appointing him when he went for the interview when officials found out that he was blind. The discrimination he faced at this stage reminded him of the suffering he faced as a child at the school for the blind, and this further motivated him to fight the battle of defending human rights and the rights of the most marginalised groups facing discrimination and exclusion.
Alazzeh started his career as a researcher for Humanity & Inclusion International in its regional office in Amman. He then rose through the ranks until he became the organization’s regional official for rights and advocacy.
He continued in his career and caught the attention of national, regional and international institutions for his analytical skills in the field of law and human rights and for the research and worksheets he prepared and trained on. He gradually held different positions including international and senior political and administrative positions.
Chief among these are:
• The youngest and first person with a disability in the Jordanian Senate in
2013.
• The youngest and first person with a disability to occupy the position of a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Center for Human Rights in Jordan in 2008.
• The first person with a disability to hold the position of Secretary-General in a government institution and was appointed to the position of Secretary-General of the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Jordan in 2017.
• Chairman of the Legal Committee that drafted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law No. (20) of 2017, which was approved by the Jordanian Parliament.
• Member and legal advisor to the Jordanian National Committee for Women.
• Member of the Technical Committee of the Democratic Empowerment Programme in the King Abdullah II Fund for Development in Jordan.
• Worked as an expert and legal and human rights advisor commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, ESCWA.
• Was in charge of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities component of the Civil Society Organizations Strengthening Project (CSP) and as a senior human rights consultant in the Civil Society Initiatives Project implemented by Family Health International (FHI360) funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jordan.
• Worked as a consultant and expert to evaluate the Arab Convention for Disability at the Arab League.
• Worked as an expert who prepared and drafted the first regional report that monitors the rights of persons with disabilities in the Arab Gulf states at the technical office of Ministers of Labor and Ministers of Social Affairs for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.[AHZ1]
• Worked as a consultant and as a co-author in a study in English for the American Bar and Judges Association (ABA) in Jordan on the legal effect of constitutional texts and the Constitutional Court in the country.
• Worked as a consultant with CBM International to review and draft the Bill in English on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan.
• Worked as a regional officer for rights and advocacy with Humanity and Inclusion in its regional office in Amman, Jordan.
• Represented the Jordanian government in several international conferences, the most important of which are the conferences of the States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York, the Zero Project conferences on issues of persons with disabilities in Vienna, in addition to many regional and
international conferences on human rights, combating extremist ideology, women’s issues and the rights of persons with disabilities.
• Member of the Advisory Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Human Rights Watch until 2013.
Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh 