UN Principles and Guidelines
In 2010 the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council adopted the Principles and Guidelines for elimination of the discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. These Principles and Guidelines make national governments responsible to eliminate leprosy-related discrimination. They form an excellent roadmap on how to enforce legally binding human rights that are routinely violated towards persons affected by leprosy and their family members. Many of the Principles and Guidelines mirror the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The preamble of the CRPD recognises the need to promote and protect the human rights of all persons with disabilities, including those who require more intensive support. ILEP argues that persons with leprosy-related disabilities or disadvantaged by the label ‘leprosy’ are the very ones who need this intensive support.
Regrettably, the Principles and Guidelines are non-mandatory and have largely been ignored, so that at state and community level, the same human rights abuses persist. Nevertheless, ILEP routinely refers to the Principles and Guidelines in submissions to the various human rights instruments of the OHCHR. Through this, we urge governments to implement the Principles and Guidelines as a significant contribution to enabling persons affected by leprosy to live with dignity.