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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

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

2015-05-29

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website.

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

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