A/HRC/44/46/Add.1 gender dimension in the Government’s reparation programme reinforces this disempowering environment and, by embarking on a gender-neutral programme, the Government misses out on the opportunity to promote gender equality and eliminate gender-based harmful stereotypes. As acknowledged by the Security Council in its resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security, reparation should always recognize the impact of violations on women and girls, but also the role of women in fighting them. In fact, the Special Rapporteur found direct consequences of the lack of a gender dimension in the reparation schemes on the current situation of persons affected by Hansen’s disease, as explained below. 46. Sixthly, family reunification was identified by many persons affected by Hansen’s disease and their family members as the most pressing and urgent matter. The Special Rapporteur considers family reunification to be a core constituent of restitution. Segregation resulted in the complete disruption and breaking up of family ties and relationships. When entering the sanatoriums, people changed their names in order to protect their families and the rupture was therefore total and definitive. Persons affected by Hansen’s disease, but also their family members, submitted themselves to a life of secrecy. The Special Rapporteur witnessed the pain that this still inflicts upon them and the variety of psychosocial disabilities that result from it. She urges the Government to move forward with the urgency required to guarantee the rights of an ageing population, to put in place a comprehensive strategy for the reunification of the families separated by the segregation policy and structural discrimination. True psychosocial healing can only be achieved by filling this gap. 47. While there have been some spontaneous reencounters between persons affected by Hansen’s disease and their family members, none resulted from a systematic policy, which is still fairly inexistent. Nevertheless, such incidental reunification cases could aptly be used as positive examples for the implementation of systematic reunification. The principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members call for the reunification of families separated in the past as a result of policies and practices relating to persons affected by Hansen’s disease. The principles and guidelines reflect legally binding provisions concerning the protection of the family in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and, more specifically, articles 9 and 23 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Under international human rights instruments, the State is obliged to protect the family, including from any illegal or illegitimate arbitrary interference. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities explicitly prohibits the separation of children from their parents on the grounds of disability. Guideline No. 4 of the principles and guidelines affirms that States should, where possible, support the reunification of families separated in the past as a result of policies and practices relating to persons affected by Hansen’s disease. 48. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to fulfil its obligation to reunite separated families and to implement a strategy based on the full participation of the individuals concerned, alongside key mechanisms that are able to ensure: participatory design of an action plan; data collection with guarantees of the right to privacy; monitoring and accountability devices with transparent information-sharing; proper budget allocation with targets, indicators and benchmarks; and community-based strategies. In order to provide preliminary guidance, the Special Rapporteur advises the Government to examine and properly discuss with individuals affected by Hansen’s disease and relevant experts, positive examples that already exist in the country, as well as good practices developed in other fields. 25 As an example, the Special Rapporteur recalls strategies undertaken with regard to indigenous peoples that have been developed under the principles of: providing access to all government archival records pertaining to the individuals concerned; family history research; guarantees that in the longer term, individuals concerned have an opportunity to manage their own historical documentation; community-based family tracing and reunification services; support and counselling for the individuals concerned, family 25 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia, Bringing them home: National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (1997). 13