Djaffar Moussa-Elkadhum, “Moussa or Mussa according to the spelling” as he is fondly known in the albinism community, is a national of the Comoros. He holds Master’s degrees in economics, statistics, demography, and public administration and is a member of several professional organizations including the International Union for the Scientific Studies of Population (IUSSP) and the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS). 

He retired from UNESCO having served the Organization since 1992 when he joined as Young Professional coming from UNFPA (UN Population Fund). He progressively assumed a number of senior functions at Headquarters (Paris) and at field level. He has served on various UNESCO Headquarters advisory committees on policies and reforms as an elected Board member and then as an elected President of an internal UNESCO Staff Savings and Loan Service for several years. 

He recently served as UNESCO Representative to Mozambique from June 2014 to December 2018 and as UNESCO Representative to Namibia from December 2018 to July 2023. 

Over the years, he has driven and participated in numerous talks and advocacy engagements, both nationally and internationally, to highlight the plight of people with albinism and to advocate for their rights primarily through his position at UNESCO’s offices in Mozambique and Namibia. 

He has been instrumental in the development of policies and programs that aim to protect the rights of persons with albinism notably in Mozambique and in Namibia. He was a contributor to the formulation of the African Union Plan of Action on Albinism. He remains active in its implementation. 

He actively participated in several key albinism milestone events including workshops hosted by the African Union to promote the Plan of Action on albinism, the first international albinism advocacy symposium in Tokyo, Japan, and numerous related. 

He is fluent in French, English, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia and has solid knowledge of Spanish, Swahili and basic Arabic.