Press releases Special Procedures

Colombia: Experta de la ONU sobre la lepra realizará visita oficial

01 June 2026

GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, Beatriz Miranda Galarza, will conduct an official visit to Colombia from 2 to 10 June.

Galarza aims to assess the human rights situation of persons affected by leprosy and their family members, and to examine challenges and opportunities related to the protection and promotion of their rights.

During the visit, the Special Rapporteur will meet with national and local government authorities, civil society organisations, leprosy experts, persons affected by leprosy, their family members, and representative organisations. She will also visit Hansen’s disease communities to discuss their priorities and concerns directly.

The expert will hold a press conference on 10 June at 11:00 a.m. local time at the Bogotá Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Cl. 113 #45, Bogotá. Attendance will be strictly limited to accredited journalists.

Beatriz Miranda Galarza is the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and their family members

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organisation, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

UN Human Rights, country page – Colombia

For inquiries and media requests, please contact: YounKyo Ahn (younkyo.ahn@un.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts.

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