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The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy is searching for a new Director to lead the Partnership.

The Operational Excellence Steering Team met September 2019 to discuss the future role of the Operational Excellence Working Group. Discussions in that meeting, and the GPZL Strategy Workshop in Amsterdam in January 2020, shaped a plan for members of the Operational Excellence Working Group to continue to contribute to the successful implementation of the GPZL Action Framework 2020-2030.

A statement from Alice Cruz, GPZL Leadership Team observer, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy and their Family Members, marking the end of her mission to Japan and detailing her findings from her time in the country.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today that ‘End Child Leprosy by 2030: Break Transmission and Eliminate Stigma’ was one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world’s most critical social challenges.

Japan has achieved remarkable progress in protecting the rights of persons affected by leprosy and these efforts must continue, said Alice Cruz, UN Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, after concluding her eight-day visit to the country.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, Alice Cruz, will undertake an official visit to Japan from 12 to 19 February 2020.

Communities and partners came together last month to celebrate World Leprosy Day with events and gatherings all over the world. View our interactive map to see images from some of these celebrations.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy hosted a meeting 13-14 January in Amsterdam to gather input from partner organizations on our work with countries, in light of our goal to reach 5 more countries in 2020 and 30 countries by 2030.

In October the Partnership conducted its second country review of 2019 in Morocco. The review was requested by the Moroccan National Leprosy Programme, headed by Dr. Ibtissam Khoudri. The objective of the country review was to take stock of the programme’s current status and define key priorities for the future.

Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI), NLR, and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) co-hosted a workshop in Amsterdam in November 2019 to discuss issues related to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

A letter from Alice Cruz, GPZL Leadership Team observer, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy and their Family Members, asking for input on the topic of her next thematic report, which will focus on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.

Takahiro Nanri, GPZL Vice Chair and Executive Director of the Sasakawa Health Foundation, was in Comoros last month for the start of a new case detection campaign. This will be the first time a new case detection campaign has been conducted on an island-wide basis on the islands of Anjouan, which is highly endemic for leprosy, and Mohelie.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) was well represented at the International Leprosy Congress in Manila, Philippines in September. GPZL’s participation included the presentation of the partnership’s country model and the model’s recent implementation in Nepal, and the launch and a demonstration of GPZL’s new best practices toolkit.

The 2019 NNN (Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network) Conference brought together over 400 people from 54 countries. Examples from the field of leprosy were discussed in many workshops and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) was highlighted in several sessions.

Resource mobilization is a key part of the work of the partnership, and GPZL is actively working to increase the alignment of existing leprosy funding and to identify and secure new funds.

Dr. Mauricio Lisboa Nobre is a physician specializing in dermatology and leprology working in Natal, and is member of the technical advisor board for Brazil’s national leprosy program. He served as the Brazilian representative on the GPZL leadership team this past year and generously gave his time and expertise to the partnership.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) conducted a two-week long country review in Nepal in July 2019.

Dr. Benedict Quao leads the National Leprosy Programme in Ghana, and is the newest member of the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy’s Leadership Team. We sat down with Dr. Quao to talk about his work in Ghana and the role of the partnership in supporting National Leprosy Programme Managers.