【Photo Diary】 (1) Visit to Ethiopia and Uganda
Published on September 20, 2024
I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my visit to Ethiopia and Uganda from July 23 to 28, 2024, in my capacity as chairman of The Nippon Foundation and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.
During my stay in Addis Ababa, I met with Women and Social Affairs Minister Ergogie Tesfaye, Health Minister Mekdes Daba Feyssa and other officials to discuss our plan to organize an African leprosy conference in the Ethiopian capital, hopefully in March 2025.
I also visited the headquarters building of the Ethiopian National Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy (ENAPAL) and the Ethiopian office of the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA).
In the Ugandan capital Kampala, I met with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to exchange views on SAA’s activities and anti-leprosy activities in the nation. I also visited farms and training centers run under SAA supervision with the support of The Nippon Foundation to improve the livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers in the landlocked eastern African republic.
[July 23, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)]
Doing some stretches during a five-hour transit at Dubai International Airport en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
[July 23, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia]
With Women and Social Affairs Minister Ergogie Tesfaye. I told her that I successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in February to raise a “Don’t Forget Leprosy” banner atop Africa’s highest peak to give a fresh momentum to the anti-leprosy campaign in Africa and other parts of the world.
Regarding the African leprosy conference we plan in Addis Ababa possibly in March 2025, she said she would do everything possible to make it a success, noting that it is in line with the theme of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “Leave no one behind.”
Toward the end of the meeting, she agreed like many others I met to pose for a photograph with the "Don't Forget Leprosy" banner, a campaign that I initiated in 2021 to ensure that leprosy is not overlooked even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
[July 24, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia]
Meeting with senior staff members of the Ethiopian office of the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA).
With SAA Country Director for Ethiopia Dr. Fentahun Mengistu Tiruneh (left) and Strategic Partnership Director Dr. Mel Oluoch (right).
SAA was established in 1986 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, and my late father, Ryoichi Sasakawa of The Nippon Foundation, in the wake of the devastating famine that ravaged the Horn of Africa in 1984/85.
I commended the role SAA has played in helping raise the productivity and income levels of smallholder farmers, who comprise about 70% of the population in Africa.
SAA has worked in 15 countries across the continent with the support of The Nippon Foundation with four focus country offices in Ethiopia, Uganda, Mali and Uganda.
With Health Minister Mekdes Daba Feyssa.
Noting that measures against leprosy, including case detection and treatment, have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in many African countries, I asked for her cooperation in preparing for the African leprosy conference to reinvigorate the anti-leprosy campaign on the continent.
She said she was impressed by its goal of zero leprosy in Africa, and underscored the importance of unity among African countries toward that goal.
The headquarters building of the Ethiopian National Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy (ENAPAL) completed in September 2022. The building houses elementary and junior high schools as tenants.
(To be continued)