MAU 2018 Working Agenda & Schedule

WORKING AGENDA

THE 7^TH ANNUAL MODEL AFRICAN UNION SIMULATION

Pittsburgh High Schools

THURSDAY, MARCH 1ST, 2018

WILLIAM PITT UNION ASSEMBLY ROOM & BALLROOM

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Tentative Schedule

Venues for Debate Sessions

Kurtzman Room                 Committee on Peace and Security (CPS)

WPU Grand Lobby             Committee on Democracy, Governance and Human Rights (CDGH)

CONFERENCE AGENDA

(1) The Executive Council (EC)

The Executive Council works in support of the AU Assembly and is responsible to the Assembly. All Member States participate in the Executive Council, usually at Foreign Minister Level. Article 13 of the AU Constitutive Act mandates the Executive Council to coordinate and take decisions on policies in areas of common interest to Member States, consider issues referred to it and monitor the implementation of Assembly policies. The same article sets out a detailed list of substantive policy areas ranging from foreign trade, energy, agriculture, and the environment to humanitarian response, health, social security, and disability. For this simulation, two representatives from the Executive Council (teachers from the various schools) will be in each of the committee rooms to collect the final resolutions adopted from the debates.

(2) Committee on Peace and Security (CPS)

The responsibility of the committee on Peace and Security is to contribute to the promotion and maintenance of peace and security in Africa and participate in conflict resolution, peacemaking, and peace building at the regional and continental levels. The peace and Security Council also takes up responsibility for regional and continental conflict resolution initiatives, ensures respect for constitutional governance, the rule of

Law, and human rights.

For many years, African countries, especially in central Africa, have experienced years of conflict. The causes of these conflicts have been associated with many factors, which includes poverty, human rights violations, bad governance and corruption, ethnic differences, and small arms proliferation (Annan 2014; Aremu, 2010). Whereas countries like Ghana and Senegal continue to enjoy some level of peace and stability, the story is very different in other parts of the continent. Countries in Central Africa for example, have been plagued by violence and conflict. Reports indicate that, for instance, about 2,000 people have fled to a refugee camp in the town of Bangassou due to recent conflict within the region (Haque, 2017). Cheryl Hendricks, professor at the University of Johannesburg, in her remarks at the UN Women’s conference in September 2017 indicated that factors of conflict in Africa include governance, security and political violence, climate change that results in forced displacement and migration, and violent extremism. Peace, security and stability for sustainable growth and development was also at the center of a High-Level Panel Discussions in the margins of the 5th AU-EU-Summit. Again, at the UN meeting held in September 2017, The Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, noted, “Peace is not self-sustaining, it needs to be nurtured.”

The Executive Committee of the African Union calls upon the heads of state of all African Union members in the Peace committee to develop a comprehensive plan on:

I)      Conflict, Conflict Management, and Conflict Resolution in Africa

II)    Peace, Security, and Stability for sustainable growth in Africa

The plan for each agenda item indicated above must speak to the specific regional context below:

i)                Northern Africa- Especially in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mali

ii)               Eastern Africa- Somalia, and Kenya

iii)             Central Africa- Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan

iv)             Western Africa- Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Niger

The plan should also address the following questions:

A)    What common factors bring about conflicts within the African regions? Provide solutions to the factors mentioned to prevent crisis from occurring.

B)    What solutions will you propose to enable reconciliation, maintain political stability, and sustainable peace in Africa, especially in countries that have been heavily afflicted by series of conflicts and/or have a current on-going conflict?

C)   Provide 3 suggestions on how the African union and the global community should be involved in maintaining peace in Africa? How can young people be involved in the process?

The committee must submit to the Executive Council one consolidated resolution. First, the committee should present a resolution for each of the African region as indicated above. Second, the committee should identify the similarities in resolutions among the African regions and come up with an overall resolution.

(3) Committee on Democracy, Governance and Human Rights (CDGH)

Democracy and good Governance

Research indicates that good governance has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law (Gisselquist 2012). Democracy, a system of governing often characterized by good governance, has been a successful practice in some African countries but not in other regions on the African continent. Countries in Africa with strong democratic institutions have succeeded in smoothly handing over power to incoming elected officials without the occurrence conflict or wars whereas countries with weak democratic institutions continue to struggle with free and fair elections, governance, and the transfer of power.

Using Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Rwanda and other relatively stable countries in Africa as a module of strong democratic governing institutions in Africa, The Executive Committee of the African Union calls upon the CDGH committee to develop a 10-year comprehensive plan of Action that Promotes good governance, democracy, and free and fair elections in the countries mentioned below. The plan must indicate the length of a term of office for elected presidents taking the historical, economic, social and political factors of development into consideration. The plan should also address the steps member states will take when a leader refuses to vacate his seat.

The specific regional countries to focus on are:

i)                Northern Africa: Libya, Mali, Chad,

ii)               Eastern Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia

iii)             Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo

iv)             Western Africa: Liberia, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, Guinea, Niger

v)              Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar

The plan should also address the following questions:

i)                Should African countries with weak democratic institutions promote a different form of governance?

ii)               If yes, propose an alternative form of governance for countries in Africa with weak democratic institutions.

iii)             If not, propose solutions for the strengthening of democratic, peaceful, and effective governance institutions in African countries with currently weak institutions.

Human Rights

The United Nations in 2003 ruled that human trafficking was a crime. However, human trafficking continues to be a major challenge in Africa and on other continents. In sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated number of enslaved people are 6,245,800 (13.6% of the global total). Sub-Saharan Africa also has the largest proportion of child trafficking in the world (The Global Slavery Index). For some African refugees, Libya has become a gateway to Europe, but many are now facing abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. In 2017, African migrants were openly sold in slave markets in Libya and in Nigeria and bodies were found mutilated and set on fire.

The Executive Committee of the African Union calls upon the heads of state of all African Union members in the CDGH committee to develop a comprehensive plan to end slave trade, child trafficking ,and xenophobic activities in Africa.

The plan must speak to the regional context specifically in:

i)                North Africa- Libya, Mali, Niger, Chad

ii)               West Africa-Nigeria

iii)             Southern Africa-South Africa

iv)             Eastern Africa- Somalia

The plan must address the following questions:

I) What are the main causes of human trafficking, slave trade, and xenophobic activities in countries in Africa?

ii) What action should African countries take to stop these practices?

iii) In what ways can the local community, government, and other agencies be involved in preventing the occurrence of these activities?

The committee must submit to the Executive Council one consolidated resolution.