Origin of the International Albinism Awareness Day
For the past 4 years, the International Albinism Day has been celebrated every June 13th. The date commemorates the day on which, for the first time, the UN adopted its first and historic resolution on albinism.
A third resolution proclaimed June 13th as International Albinism Awareness Day, and was celebrated in 2015 for the first time.
A persecuted and discriminated collective
Given the hypopigmentation of their skin, people with albinism have a special risk of skin cancer, reducing their life expectancy, especially in poor communities in tropical areas where solar radiation is very intense and scarcity of resources very palpable.
However, in addition to the purely medical consequences of white skin, people with albinism face a variety of challenges in different corners of the world.
The most noteworthy is the attacks and murders that many of them have suffered so far in various African countries. The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in 2013 calling for the prevention and condemnation of these attacks, as well as the halting of discrimination. In 2016 Ikponwosa Ero, an independent expert on the human rights of people with albinism at the UN, produced the first report on albinism by the UN Human Rights Council.
Numerous measures have now been put in place in Africa to put an end to the attacks and ensure that every person with albinism lives a free life and fully enjoys their rights.
A slogan for a cause
The theme for this year’s International Albinism Awareness Day will be “Still standing strong”.
Beyond Suncare joins thousands of voices from every corner of the world calling for an end to discrimination and stigma, as well as the defense of the dignity of all people with albinism.
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