Tammy Rosner, Ed.D.

Welcome Message from the University System of Georgia, Director of International Education

It is a pleasure and honor to warmly welcome all distinguished guests and students for another exciting and impactful Southeast Model African Union (SEMU) conference. This annual event, organized by the University System of Georgia’s African Council, is a beacon of diplomacy, cooperation, and youth leadership.

SEMU is a testament to our commitment to fostering a deeper understanding of African affairs, promoting dialogue, and nurturing the leadership skills of our future diplomats, policymakers, and global citizens.

The University System of Georgia’s African Council, in collaboration with Fort Valley State University, our esteemed host university, embraces the spirit of unity that is the core of any union. We can work together towards a brighter future by coming together as students and young leaders from many backgrounds and disciplines for this exciting conference.

Like those before, this year’s conference will be a platform for engagement, learning, and transformation. You, our student delegates, are the architects of change, and you hold the power to make a real impact in the world.

Welcome Message from the Vice Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

On behalf of all our students, faculty, and staff, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Fort Valley State University (FVSU) for the 27th Annual Southeast Model African Union conference.

We are very honored that you have chosen FVSU as the host for this year’s SEMAU. I want to thank the University System of Georgia Africa Council (USAC) for giving us this honor. Hosting this important event is consistent with FVSU's commitment to educating globally aware citizens and providing opportunities to explore and learn about Africa’s past, present and future.

The work you are engaged in for the next three days is of critical importance to the people who live on the African continent and to all of us in the global community. Simulating the work of the African Union should remind all of us that most of the problems and challenges we face in today's interconnected world, from climate change to health epidemics, from migrations and refugees to global terrorism and human trafficking, and others, have impacts beyond individual national borders, and sustainable solutions, therefore, require collective and collaborative efforts among all countries.

If there is anything I can do to make your FVSU experience more welcoming, please do not hesitate to let me know. I wish you a successful and productive conference.

Olufunke Fontenot, Ed.D. 

Charles Ubah, Ph.D.

Message from the Chair, University System of Georgia Africa Council (USAC)

Dear Honorable Guest, Delegates, and Faculty Advisors:

As Chair of the University System of Georgia Africa Council (a consortium of 26 public universities and colleges, including some private institutions), it gives me the greatest pleasure and honor to welcome you to the 26th annual Southeast Model African Union Conference at Fort Valley State University, Georgia. SEMAU Conference provides a unique experience because the University System Africa Council (USAC) is the only one of the four World Regional Councils set up by the Board of Regents’ System Council on International Education (SCIE) that engages students in this experiential exercise to practice the art of diplomacy, while, at the same time, learn about a particular continent-Africa and the issues facing it, and also to explore possible solutions to its problems. SEMAU itself is a simulation of the annual meeting of Heads of State of the African Union (AU), and it is really a big Conference on African affairs that gives students an unprecedented opportunity to gain experience about all facets of African life.

To the student delegates, this conference is student-focused, therefore you are at the center of gravity. As such, it is indeed a pleasure to have you at the 2023 SEMAU Conference. You have selected a particular African country to represent. As ambassadors of the countries you are representing, you must take on the character of your selected countries, and that requires that you understand very intimately the position of your country on the issues being debated in your various committees. Under the guidance of your esteemed faculty advisors, you have spent the last few months in intense preparation, attending lectures, researching your individual countries and agenda topics, practicing the rules, and honing your debate skills. Through your semester practice, you have diligently informed yourselves, not only about African affairs in general, but also about the nature, policies, and attitudes of the individual country you are representing at this Conference. I have no doubts that you are now ready with the required knowledge and skills for effective deliberation in your various committees in the three days of the Conference. In the most African spirit, your task is to work collaboratively as a team with your fellow delegates, as ambassadors and policy makers representing African countries, to find African solutions to African problems. At the end of your deliberations, the resolutions you passed will be sent to the African Union Mission in Washington, DC, for consideration and they may end up at the African Union
 
Headquarters at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thus, your work here is not just theoretical exercise, but one with practical implications that may impact the work of the African Union.

This simulation of the proceedings of heads of state and government of the African Union (AU) is a splendid exercise. The exercise is designed not only to enrich your understanding of African affairs, but also to hone your diplomatic, leadership and conflict resolution skills. It also constitutes firsthand experiential learning or learning beyond the classroom experience, which are very much in line with the features of two educational pillars that the University System of Georgia increasingly emphasizes: the acquisition of global or international competence and firsthand experiential learning. These are defining skills of the twenty-first century that give competitive advantage in all occupations. Therefore,

USAC congratulate you so highly for being very much in step with some of the urgent drives that the University System of Georgia and the world in general values immensely.

Beyond providing fantastic opportunity for high-impact learning and well-established global competitive advantage skills, the SEMAU Conference also creates opportunity for fraternization and lifelong friendships. Therefore, take the time to have fun and socialize especially during the African Night on Friday and make new friends and rekindle old friendships.

To the faculty advisors, there is no amount of thanks that is enough for your dedication for your students and to the cause. Year after year for 26 years, you spent countless hours outside your normal course load to recruit, prepare, and coach your students for this model. There is no iota of doubt whatsoever, that you are a true believer to the cause and no question among the best that the University System of Georgia has to offer. For this labor of love, I am immensely grateful and lucky to serve as your Chair.

We must extend our utmost gratitude to our host institution, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia, its extended communities, and to the 27th SEMAU Director Conference, Dr. Robert Dibie, Co-Director, Dr. Rayton Sianjina, and the members of the committee for the planning and preparation for this year’s Conference.

On behalf of the University System of Georgia Africa Council, again, welcome to the 26th Southeast Model African Union Conference. We wish you a phenomenally successful Conference.

Thank you and may God Almighty continue to bless you. 

Welcome Message from Director of 27th Annual Southeast Model African Union Conference

Dear Honorable Delegates,

It is our pleasure to welcome you to Fort State University, and to the 27th Annual Southeast Model African Union conference. You have spent the last few months researching your individual countries and agenda topics, practicing the rules, and honing your debating skills. You are now prepared to put those skills and knowledge to use today and in the next two days. Your task is to collaborate with your fellow delegates, as ambassadors and policy makers representing African countries, to find African solutions to African problems and challenges.

Through this simulation exercise, you will come to understand the challenges of policy making in complex and interrelated issue areas, such as, sustainable food supply, refugee movement and migration, gender and reproductive rights, global climate change and global terrorism, economic development and political stability, peace, and security. While you must represent your individual countries’ interests, you must also collaborate with fellow member states to find sustainable and practical solutions, in the spirit of cooperation instead of competition, pan Africanism instead of nationalism, and collective consensus driven instead of unilateral pursuit of selfish self-interest. We urge you to take this exercise very seriously because these are issues of critical importance to real people’s lives, in real countries, not just on the African continent, but across our interconnected and interdependent world.

If you approach your deliberations in this spirit, you would have contributed to an exciting and productive learning experience for everyone. If you need any assistance in the next two days, please do not hesitate to contact us or any of the faculty advisors.

We wish you pleasant, vibrant, and productive deliberations.

Robert Dibie, Ph.D.

Ambassador Alfredo Fabião Nuvunga

His Excellency, Ambassador of the Republic of Mozambique to the United States of America

Personal Information

Born in September 20, 1965 and married to Joana Cuna Nuvunga, graduated in Business Management and employee of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
 

Professional Profile
Ambassador Alfredo Fabião Nuvunga is a career diplomat who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September 1989. He holds a master’s degree in politics and international Relations from the University of Botswana, and a B. Honors degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Superior Institute of International Relations, currently Joaquim Chissano University.

Served as Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and as the Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa from 2020 to 2022.
From 2016 to 2021, Ambassador Nuvunga served as Director of the Directorate for Regional and Continental Integration. On the same period he was cumulatively holding the following positions:

• Director of the National Commission for SADC (CONSADC). CONSADC is a Consultative Institution, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINEC), responsible for the coordination of all Mozambican civil society sectors participation in the implementation of SADC programs and projects.
• Chairperson of the Consultative and Advisory Committee to the President of the Republic on the issues related to SADC, African Union, Africa and Middle East, and Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
• Focal Point at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINEC) on matters relating to the National Defense and Security Council (CNDS).
• National Contact Point for SADC Affairs
   

Languages

Ambassador Nuvunga speaks and writes several tsonga languages and portuguese and can articulate in English and French.

Distinction

Ambassador Nuvunga was awarded the Medal “Order of Friendship and Peace” of the second degree awarded by Presidential Decree nr. 12/2022, of June 22, for the high merits achieved in the fight for the cause of friendship, solidarity and peace in the world.

SEMAU Delegation 2023

SEMAU Delegation 2024

*As of 8.7.2024