UNHRC unanimously passes Japanese resolution on leprosy and human rightsThe 8th United Nations Human Rights Council, on June 18 unanimously passed a resolution on human rights and leprosy, which was co-sponsored by 44 countries including China, Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, has described the passing of a resolution yesterday (June 18) by the United Nations Human Rights Council entitled ‘Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons Affected by Leprosy and their Family Members’ as “a decisive moment in the battle to confront discrimination and the stigma associated with the disease.”

The 8th United Nations Human Rights Council, in session from June 2nd to 18th, unanimously passed the resolution, which was co-sponsored by 44 countries including China, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany. It is the first to be tabled by the Japanese government, and was developed in response to an appeal by Mr Sasakawa, who has persistently stressed the need to abolish discrimination against people affected by leprosy and their families in his dual roles as World Health Organization Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Leprosy and Japan’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Human Rights of People Affected by Leprosy.

Today leprosy is a curable disease, and treatment can be obtained anywhere in the world. However, people affected by the disease and their families continue to be subjected to unjust social discrimination. Every possible means must be used to protect the basic human rights of these individuals. The UNHRC resolution asks all governments to take effective measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination. It further calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to include the issue of discrimination against people affected by leprosy and their family members as an important matter in its human rights education and awareness promotion activities. Finally, it urges the newly formed Human Rights Council Advisory Committee to formulate a set of principles and guidelines to eliminate discrimination.

This was a landmark resolution, supported by all member nations of the United Nations Human Rights Council–the prime UN body for dealing with human rights issues. It called for related governments and organisations to collect the information required and take the necessary measures to bring about the elimination of leprosy.

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Notes to Editors

  1. Yohei Sasakawa spends one third of every year visiting endemic countries. He has served as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination since 2001, and was recently appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Human Rights of People Affected by Leprosy by the Government of Japan. Mr Sasakawa joined The Nippon Foundation as a trustee in 1981, served as President from 1989 and became Chairman on 1 July 2005.
  2. For over 30 years The Nippon Foundation has been involved with the global campaign to eliminate leprosy, working with the WHO, governments, international organisations and NGOs. One example of this work is the funding, between 1995 and 1999, of free multi-drug therapy (MDT) for every leprosy-affected person in the world. Since January 2006, the Foundation has launched three annual Global Appeals to End Stigma and Discrimination Against People Affected by Leprosy.