Model African Union preps for SEMAU Conference
Driven by a contagious passion to see change and resolve conflicts within African affairs, GCSU students and faculty have begun preparing proposals for the 2009 South East Model African Union Conference where GCSU participants will play the role of delegates from South Africa and Nigeria.
SEMAU is a program held every year in which the University System African Council arranges a reproduction of the annual meeting of Heads of State of the African Union.
Students from a variety of universities and colleges will act as delegates for one or more African countries and are expected to have conducted in-depth studies, obtaining vast knowledge of their country’s perspective and position on numerous issues facing Africa, prior to their arrival at the conference.
Participating in SEMAU for her fourth year, senior accounting major, Lilliane Awiti expressed much joy when speaking of the program. Awiti is a native of Kenya and said she sees great potential in Africa.
“The rules that they use in SEMAU are the ones they actually use in the real African Union, just like in Parliament; so you have to respect the rules of the AU and constantly be ‘in role,’ ” Awiti said. “It’s really an adventure.”
One interesting aspect of SEMAU is the reality of the impact of student involvement, as resolutions students propose are debated among the Heads of State. Those approved are compiled and sent to Washington, D.C., to the ambassador of AU who will then send the resolutions to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where students’ resolutions will be considered for use by African presidents. In fact, at last year’s conference, GCSU students experienced this success as a resolution they wrote was proposed and presented to the Heads of State.
Alongside the President of African Council Eustace Palmer, Charles Ubah recognized the necessity for students to have the opportunity to align themselves with the rest of the world by taking on the role of a delegate for a foreign country.
“What we do here in Georgia has far-reaching implications; what we are learning here, African presidents get to see what we do here,” Ubah said. “They have sought counsel from us, they are really aware of what we’re doing here.”
SEMAU is a rewarding opportunity for students of all academic and cultural interests to network with these prominent figures in the political scene. Even if politics isn’t your choice of study, students are reassured they will greatly benefit from exposure to the social and cultural influences of the SEMAU conference.
Dr. Olufunke A. Fontenot, a professor of modern language and culture and associate dean of GCSU, spoke very highly of SEMAU and its’ role in advancing education.
“Participating in SEMAU will not cost the student anything financially; it’s an opportunity to broaden your horizons and really emphasizes learning outside the classroom,” Fontenot said.
In the past, students from GCSU have had very rewarding experiences through representing Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Liberia, South Africa and the Sudan among others. GCSU even hosted the conference on campus in 2004.
This year SEMAU will be held in Macon and will be hosted by Mercer University from Nov. 5-7. It will mark the first time a school outside the University System will host the conference.
“We only meet one hour every week, Monday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. You can even bring your lunch and just listen. It’s nothing scary because the professors are there, it’s just like a class,” Awiti said. “This is good for you, really it is.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 2 2009. Filed under Features.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
