TOKYO: The Japanese government will draw up a new action plan to combat discrimination and prejudice against disabled people, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio said on Monday at the first meeting of a new panel of all ministers on the issue.

障害者への社会的障壁を取り除くのは社会の責務であり、社会全体が変わらなければならないと考えるからこそ、全府省庁が参加し、全大臣を構成員とする「障害者に対する偏見や差別のない共生社会の実現に向けた対策推進本部」を立ち上げ、以下の指示を行いました。 pic.twitter.com/bjHcb5ouif

— 岸田文雄 (@kishida230) July 29, 2024

The ministerial panel was set up in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that the now-defunct eugenic protection law, which forced sterilizations on the grounds of disabilities, was unconstitutional.

Through the panel, the government will strengthen education and edification to eradicate discrimination against disabled people and eugenic ideas.

“The discrimination, abuse, isolation, violation and special treatment that disabled people have been facing must not exist,” Kishida stressed at the meeting.

Kishida instructed Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi and Ayuko Kato, minister of state for policies related to children, to promptly settle pending sterilization cases by concluding conciliation agreements.

JIJI Press