Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held the first meeting of the Headquarters to Promote Reform of the System for Persons with Disabilities at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Headquarters was established within the Cabinet in order to carry out an intensive reform of the system concerning persons with disabilities in Japan, beginning with the development of domestic laws to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and to comprehensively and effectively promote measures for persons with disabilities while securing close cooperation among related administrative agencies.

In the opening address, Prime Minister Hatoyama said, "Our first task is to develop domestic laws to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I ask for the cooperation of each minister so that the decision is made earnestly and swiftly in their respective ministries and agencies, as I believe Japan must ratify the Convention at an early date."