Welcome to Assembly of the African Union
Dear Delegates,
First of all, welcome to the Assembly of the African Union! Obviously, our committee will be unique at ILMUNC XXVIII, consisting only of African states. I’m really excited to be your chair, and I’m sure we’ll enjoy some quality debate and a lot of fun when we convene in January.
My name is Kevin Leiby, and I’m a senior at the University of Pennsylvania hailing from Reading, PA. I study International Relations, focusing on international development and foreign aid. Simply put, I’m passionate about international affairs – in Africa and beyond. I was fortunate enough to spend an amazing semester abroad in São Paulo, Brazil, and this past summer I worked in Accra, Ghana. At Penn, I not only help to host Model U.N. conferences for high school and college students, but I also compete around the country myself with a fair amount of success and good fun. I absolutely love Philadelphia, and although I don’t have as much time outside the city as I used to, I try to enjoy the outdoors whenever I can.
Our staff has provided you with a background guide for both of our committee’s topics, but remember that the background guide only serves as an introduction to the topics! By researching the topics further and learning about your country’s policies, interests, and relations, you’ll be able to get so much more out of our committee. Ultimately, my job is to facilitate the debate that you – the delegates – lead. The African Union is in your hands! I’ll be very accessible during the conference, and if you have any questions at all until we come together, be sure to shoot our USG – Natasha Gabbay – an email.
Sincerely,
Kevin Leiby
Chair, Assembly of the African Union
Ivy League Model United Nations Conference XXVIII
Topic Summaries
Topic A: The Role of South-South Cooperation in African Development
The nature of international aid has been changing in recent years, as the sources of aid shift from primarily the United States of America and European countries to China, India, and many smaller countries that are rapidly developing. These developing nations may be looking to exert their diplomatic influence through aid organizations and demonstrate that their economies have grown enough that they no longer require foreign aid, and in fact are able to disperse it to other countries in need. China has faced a great deal of criticism for many of its aid projects in Africa, due to their lack of concern for human rights, among other reasons. Others praise China for its extensive investment in African infrastructure, which is still in need of major improvements if the continent is going to develop trade networks and industries on par with other regions of the world. Thus, the topic of South-South cooperation is central to the issue of African development, with many controversial issues within the debate that delegates to the Assembly of the African Union will be tasked with addressing.
Topic Summary B: Instability and Crisis in Somalia
While some crises come and go all across Africa, Somalia has perpetually been home to instability, humanitarian crisis, and a variety of sinister activities including piracy and terrorism that impact countries across Africa and the world. Since 1991 when civil war broke out, Somalia has represented the quintessential “failed state” without any consolidated or institutionalized government over its entire territory. Now, once again, famine in East Africa has hit Somalians hardest and has highlighted Somalia’s plight. The delegates’ job with this topic is to decide what actions the committee can reasonably take to address all of the current issues facing Somalia.