Ten students from the African Leadership Academy represented the institute in Boston this month, at the 61st Harvard MUN (Model United Nations) Conference. A further six were also sent to the Georgetown MUN Conference last week.

Events of this kind are held all over the world each year, and are designed to provide young students (who attend as delegates) with a platform from which they can voice their opinions on political policies and international affairs. Given that the ALA’s educational approach focuses almost entirely on addressing the most serious issues which affect Africa, and the word as a whole, the academy considers these conferences to be some of the most significant events on its calendar.

Approximately 3,000 people attend the Harvard MUN Conference each year; over the course of four days, delegates are given the opportunity to assume the roles of national cabinet members and United Nations representatives, so that they can gain insight into the workings of international relations, and the UN itself.

Attendees are invited to express their thoughts on the world’s most pressing concerns, debate with one another, and potentially devise solutions to the issues being discussed. The experiences they have here enable them to better understand the importance of balancing the needs of their own countries, with the needs of the international community; they are taught how to maintain national policies in the midst of negotiations which involve conflicting global policies. Anyone with an interest in business and international affairs, like Tunde Folawiyo, will be able to recognise the value of teaching young leaders about these subjects.

Harvard MUN also uses this event as a means of fundraising for its charity partners; this year, it raised just over $13,000 for an organisation called Polaris Project, which aims to end modern-day slavery and human trafficking, and to improve the current legislation relating to this crimes.

Whilst, of course, the benefits for those who went to these events in Boston and Doha are tremendous, the ALA’s involvement also helps the rest of its student body too. People who support the ALA, such as Tunde Folawiyo, might be aware that participating in the Harvard MUN Conference enables the academy to organise its own version of the event – the ALAMAU (African Leadership Academy’s Model African Union) Conference – in South Africa. This year, the academy will host it between the 9th and the 13th of April, in the city of Johannesburg, where the ALA is based.