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UFS hosts global conference on albinism to advance legal and healthcare inclusion

04 November 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Stephen Collett

Albinism Conference — The University of the Free State (UFS) brought together global voices, ideas, and lived experiences at the Albinism Beyond 2030: Legal and Healthcare Pathways to Inclusion International Conference, hosted from 23 to 24 October 2025 at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted a global conference on legal and healthcare pathways to inclusion for people with albinism.

The Albinism Beyond 2030: Legal and Healthcare Pathways to Inclusion International Conference, hosted from 23 to 24 October 2025 at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, brought together global voices, ideas, and lived experiences related to albinism.

Jointly organised by the Faculty of Law’s Disability Rights Unit and the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Department of Dermatology, the two-day conference convened scholars, medical experts, policymakers, human rights advocates, and persons with albinism from across Africa and beyond. Together, they explored how law and healthcare can intersect to advance equality, dignity, and social inclusion.

“The conference invites us to move from awareness to accountability, transforming commitments into sustained, measurable change that ensures persons with albinism live, work, and thrive with equality, safety, and dignity in every sphere of life,” said Laetitia Fourie, Project Coordinator of the UFS Disability Rights Unit.

From conversation to collaboration

In his address, Prof Serges Kamga, Dean of the Faculty of Law, spoke of the university’s responsibility to confront discrimination with compassion and justice. “Persons with albinism are victims of a clear attempt to wipe them out of the face of the earth,” he said. “Hosting this conference reflects who we are – a university rooted in care, inclusion, and social justice.”

He added that the collaboration between the Faculties of Law and Health Sciences reflects one of the UFS’s strategic goals: breaking down barriers between disciplines. “This is not just a conference for lawyers or for doctors,” he said. “It’s a shared platform for dialogue, research, and future projects that connect us nationally, regionally, and globally.”

The sense of collaboration was echoed by Prof Frans Maruma, Head of the Department of Dermatology, who emphasised that the goal of the conference was not just discussion, but measurable change. “We can speak, but if those talks are not translating into actions, we might as well pack and go,” he said. “This is where we begin crafting ideas that flourish into tangible outcomes – policy, research, and healthcare reforms that ensure persons with albinism are fully documented, supported, and cared for.”

Turning inclusion into action

Representing the university’s leadership, Dr Molapo Qhobela, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategic Initiatives, International and Institutional Affairs, reminded delegates that inclusion must live through action. “This gathering comes at a pivotal moment when our societies must move beyond awareness towards action, beyond empathy towards equity,” he said.

Dr Qhobela reflected on the UFS’s unique model of inclusion, which sees the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS), the Disability Rights Unit, and the Faculty of Health Sciences form a connected ecosystem of care; combining access, advocacy, and research. “The right to health cannot exist without the right to justice, and the right to justice cannot exist without care,” he said.

Special guests included Maluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism; Antoine Gliksohn, Executive Director of the Global Albinism Alliance; Commissioner Bonface Massah, Executive Director of the Africa Albinism Network and Commissioner of the Malawi Human Rights Commission; Nomasonto Mazibuko, Founder and Executive Director of the Albinism Society of South Africa; Patrick Wadula, National Chairperson of the National Albinism Task Force; Prof Charlotte Baker, Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies at Lancaster University; Commissioner Elspeth Nomahlubi Berlinda Khwinana from the South African Human Rights Commission; Commissioner Kamohelo Teele from the Commission for Gender Equality; and Visual Art Activist Athenkosi Kwinana.

Their participation, alongside local and international academics, students, and community representatives, underscored the significance of this dialogue – not as a once-off event, but as a collaborative movement uniting research, healthcare, and human rights.

From law to health to art, Albinism Beyond 2030 showcased the power of partnership in shaping inclusive futures. A key feature of the conference was Kwinana’s art exhibition, titled Ndijongile, which offered a vivid and personal reflection on the experiences of persons with albinism. The conference was a shared commitment to ensure that no person with albinism is left unseen, unprotected, or unheard.

News Archive

UFS takes 70 first-year students to the USA

2010-08-20

Mr Rudi Buys (middle, with tie) with some of the students selected for the F1 Programme
Photo: Gerhard Louw

The University of the Free State (UFS) has announced the names of the first ever group of 70 first-year students that will travel to the United States of America (USA) as part of the university’s Student Leadership Development Programme.

This group of students will spend two weeks at universities in the USA to experience student life and learn about leadership and diversity at these universities.

“This is a first for not only the UFS, but also for South Africa and we are incredibly proud. The programme is unique to any other student leadership development programme in the country. We are leading the way and are taking students to live and learn amongst students at various universities across the USA,” said Mr Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs at the UFS.

The programme was one of the goals of Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, which he aimed to realise when he was appointed by the UFS in 2009.

“With the programme we want to develop participants’ thinking and capacity to lead in the contexts of diversity and change and we hope to direct them to programmes leading change in student life in general upon their return,” Mr Buys said.

The 70 students will leave for the USA on 22 September 2010. After spending some time there and learning more about their American peers’ lives and culture, they will return to the UFS on 7 October 2010.

“We took great care in selecting the 70 participants. They are representative of all our students, as well as students from our Qwaqwa Campus,” said Mr Buys.

A rigorous selection process was followed, which focused on the students’ academic excellence, their participation in student- and residence-life programmes and their interest in growing in the areas of, amongst others, leadership, diversity and citizenship. Each candidate had to undergo a pre-selection process, followed by a panel interview consisting of staff from various faculties and divisions at the UFS.

The students will stay in groups of about ten at the various universities, which include universities such as Cornell University, New York University, the University of Massachusetts, the Appalachian State University and Virginia Polytechnic University. “These universities will provide our students with accommodation and will present various academic and cultural programmes which our students will participate in and learn from,” said Mr Buys.

“We have also put a programme in place to prepare our students thoroughly for the trip. Because some of them have never travelled on an aeroplane, let alone travelled to a foreign country, we have made arrangements with the Department of Home Affairs for assistance with travel documentation, as well as special arrangements with the USA Embassy for assistance with visas. They will also be attending workshops focusing on, amongst others, research, leadership and diversity before their departure on 22 September 2010.

“Upon their arrival in the USA the group of students will firstly be taken to Washington DC where they will be briefed about American customs, etc. From there they will be placed at the various universities,” said Mr Buys.

Upon their return the students must be involved in student-life programmes on campus, establish volunteer programmes and initiate and establish mentoring programmes for their fellow students. “We want them to give back what they have learnt and experienced,” said Mr Buys.

“We are planning on implementing the Student Leadership Development Programme as an annual programme and are looking forward to this incredible programme through which this group of first-year students will have the opportunity of a lifetime to be true ambassadors of South Africa and, in particular, the UFS, as they leave for the USA,” he said.

Media Release:
Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
20 August 2010

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