In April 2005, Mercy Corps, also a MIUSA partner organization, invited MIUSA to conduct a training workshop and provide technical assistance to Mercy Corps staff in Amman, Jordan.  Mercy Corps, based in Portland, Oregon, is an organization dedicated to building just communities through sustainable development and civil society initiatives. Mercy Corps has worked with MIUSA for nearly four years on the Building an Inclusive Development Community project.

The goals of the Amman workshop were to increase the staff’s understanding of a rights-based approach to disability inclusion, identify challenges in the region to the participation of disabled people, and discuss ways in which Mercy Corps staff could make their own projects more inclusive. MIUSA trainer Karen Heinicke-Motsch served as a trainer alongside Alicia Hays, an experienced trainer and disability advocate, and Michael Szporluk, Civil Society Program Officer at Mercy Corps.  These U.S.-based trainers were joined by Heba Hagrass of Lebanon, leader of the Women’s Committee of the Arab Organization of Disabled People, who provided expertise on disability issues in the region.  

Despite some difficulties with air transportation from Iraq, fifteen participants were able to attend the workshop and spend two days with MIUSA staff.  On the first day of the workshop, Ms. Hagrass provided information on local and regional disability issues, and MIUSA trainers introduced the concept of a rights-based approach to disability. Mercy Corps representatives described their projects and participants learned about Mercy Corps’ partnership with MIUSA.  Throughout the second day, participants met in small groups to identify challenges that impact the participation of people with disabilities in their communities and in development work, and identify tools necessary to overcome those barriers. 

Mercy Corps is providing funding and training to newly formed disability organizations in Iraq as part of its larger work in that country. Representatives from Iraqi disability organizations were active participants in the workshop.  They took away useful information about other disability movements in the region, and new perspectives on regional disability issues, from a rights based perspective on disability and development.  Mercy Corps field staff in the region deepened their understanding of inclusive development and actively contributed to the success of the workshop.

The Jordan workshop was funded jointly by Mercy Corps and MIUSA, as an activity of the Building an Inclusive Development Community, sponsored by USAID.