Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation

States

Delhi

Families stricken by leprosy are frequently socially isolated, compelled to live apart in distinct self-established colonies, and further compounded by economic hardship, leaving them in need of charity and beggarly to survive.

The goal of the S-ILF livelihood programme is to ensure the quality of life for those residing in leprosy colonies by starting, enhancing, and expanding livelihood activities with the help of financial, technical, and capacity-building support. At every level of the project's development, including capacity building, market linkages, business orientation, market survey and feasibility assessment, and awareness generating and mobilisation, support is provided. The program's main goal is to build and fortify community-based organisations for improved gender parity, self-help, colony governance, and health and sanitation.

Across 18 states, more than 300 microenterprise initiatives have been started thus far in a variety of industries.

S-ILF uses an informal forum of proactive and like-minded parliamentarians who cross party boundaries in their active pursuit of a leprosy-free India to engage opinion and policymakers for the rights and inclusion of people affected by leprosy. The Forum would seek to persuade lawmakers to amend discriminatory laws that would protect the fundamental human rights of those afflicted with leprosy and to increase public knowledge of the disease, moreover, to guarantee that those impacted by leprosy and their families are included in the system of public services and social programmes.