Global Appeal 2016 to be Launched from Tokyo

Last year’s 10th Global Appeal was the first time the launch was held in Tokyo. The launch ceremony was attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Yasuhisa Shiozaki, and on the following day a group of people affected by leprosy from around the world had the opportunity to meet with Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Both of these events helped to promote an awareness of leprosy-related issues in Japan and around the world.

The Nippon Foundation will be partnering with Junior Chamber International to deliver Global Appeal 2016. JCI is an international chamber of young people aged 18 to 40, who take initiative to solve local challenges as the social leaders of the next generation. A deeper understanding of leprosy and action by young people are indispensable to ensuring that issues related to the disease continue to be addressed by the next generation.
Over the next few months, The Nippon Foundation and JCI will hold events to promote a better understanding of leprosy in countries where the disease remains a major issue, including India and Brazil.

The Nippon Foundation will hold several events in conjunction with the Global Appeal, including a World Café networking event for people affected by leprosy from around the world and Japanese young people, and a Bibliobattle competition to introduce books related to leprosy.

In addition, to ensure that the history of leprosy is preserved for future generations, The Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation will hold a Mankind Heritage World Conference over three days.
Since the development of effective medical treatment in the 1980s, significant success has been achieved toward the elimination of leprosy as a disease, but this has also led to an impression of leprosy as a disease of the past, and the store of records and memories from the long history of the disease is rapidly disappearing. In the past, people in Japan who contracted leprosy were forced to live apart from society and were not allowed to have children, so many people affected by leprosy have no children or grandchildren. Today, the average age of these people is 84, meaning there are increasingly fewer opportunities for them to share their experiences of overcoming hardship and fighting for their human rights.
To date historical materials have been recorded and preserved in individual countries and regions, and this conference will bring together people from around the world who have a common understanding of the problem, to discuss ways to move forward to the next stage of historical preservation.