Online kick-off ceremony for the 2nd Model African Union (MAU) Conference took place!

Following the thematic event last August for the first time at the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, the kick-off ceremony for the second "MAU" was held online on May 30th, organized by the MAU organizing Committee (comprised of students in Japan) and co-hosted by UNDP, Sophia University, and JICA.
Over 130 students more than 40 countries African countries participated, and congratulatory speeches were given by the co-organizers and the African Union Commission (AUC), as well as explanations of the African Union's priority areas. This time, in addition to undergraduate and graduate students, high school students also participating the MAU.
The first ever MAU Conference was convened in Japan in August 2024. This pioneering initiative aimed to empower young people in Japan to lead discussions on sustainable development and partnerships among African countries. The second MAU Conference is scheduled to be held as a thematic event at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in August 2025.

At the beginning of the kick-off meeting, the co-organizers of the MAU, Chika Kondoh (TICAD Partnership Specialist, UNDP), Naoki Mine (Senior Deputy Director, Planning and TICAD Process
Division, Africa Department, JICA), and Eri Yamazaki, (University Education Administrator, Sophia University) congratulated the participants who passed the selection process and emphasized the importance of young people in many aspects and that the MAU is also a place to learn from each other. Next, Daniel Aduna, AUC Youth Officer, said, "Africa has a great future, and I hope that through the discussions and negotiations in the Model AU, you will learn the process of understanding and resolving differences between countries."

After that, Ahmed Abdelaziz Elmezain, President of the 2nd MAU and Mr. Henri MASSENGO, Head of Logistics, gave an overview of the 2nd MAU.

Afterwards, Mr. Pempho Chabvuta, Partnerships and Member States Engagement Officer, Ms. Aram Goliath, Education Associate, and Mr. Lefa Lekeka,
Pempho Chabvuta,
Partnerships and Member States Engagement Officer
Aram Goliath,
Education Associate
Communications Associate from the AUC gave explanations about the Africa Youth Charter, 1 Million Next Level Initiative, and Introduction to the MAU Toolkit.

During the Q&A session, participants asked questions about the handling, language, and references of reference materials and data, as well as how each country's team should prepare its position papers (note: documents that express a country's views on a particular topic), and the co-organizers and AUC responded to these questions.

The second AU Mock Conference is being organized by the AU Mock Conference Executive Committee, co-hosted by UNDP, JICA and Sophia University, with the aim of providing an opportunity for African and Japanese university students to think deeply about African countries and develop policies, with a view to TICAD 9 this year. The conference is modelled on the AU Assembly, the decision-making body of the African Union, and the following three technical committees will be set up:

Each team will spend several months preparing a position paper from their country's perspective and prepare for the Assembly. At the end of the Assembly, the mock AU Assembly will adopt a mock AU resolution that brings together the proposals from each subcommittee and close the Assembly.


Below is snapshots of last year's MAU General Assembly.

Please see below for details of past events.

Mock AU2024 implementation
The first mock AU general meeting in Japan was held


The second mock AU launch event was held
The Second Model African Union ( AU ) Conference Launch Event has been held and participants are now being recruited! ｜ News and Public Relations - JICA