A Brief Introduction to the AU’s Peace and Security Council
What is the Peace and Security Council? What does it do in the broader institutional framework of the African Union? What are the Council’s tasks? TEIMUN’s Secretary-General, Thomas Stavrinos, explains.
On the PSC’s Agenda: Resolving Issues of Water Security on the African Continent
Water is quickly becoming a scare resource in many of the world’s most vulnerable locations. Water scarce locations across the African continent especially are bringing in threats of a military nature, reflecting the political and security dynamic that many of the important rivers in the region have. Despite abundant supply in some areas, maldistribution has brought both floods and droughts. Countries’ attempts to manage water flows, such as building dams, can exacerbate scarcity elsewhere and trigger international disputes.
The African Union Peace and Security Council has noted this as a potential source for future conflict, notably around the Niger Delta, the Congo Basin, and along the length of the Nile. It is time to address water scarcity as a security threat and begin to build the institutional infrastructure, legal and political will, and understanding between nations to make sure that these threats never overflow into conflict. To tackle such a challenge will require the full breadth of the AU PSC’s powers and mandate and can preface an important turning point in the PSC’s importance in securing peace before conflict ever breaks out.
Council Level: Intermediate / Advanced
Meet Your Chair:
Philippe Lefèvre
Hello everyone, my name is Philippe, and I’m a student of International Relations and Diplomacy at the College of Europe, with a background in IR and History. I’ve been doing MUN for (and exactly as I write this) 4 years and I happen to find myself in the the sad situation where GrunnMUN might be my last one! I’m a big fan of all different types of MUN but regional committees, historical committees, and crises are particularly interesting to me.
Alongside MUN I also run a think tank, the Institute for a Greater Europe, and work on media and consulting projects in my (albeit limited) spare time. I look forward to meeting everyone at the conference hopefully in person.
Fun Fact: I’ve met almost the entire royal family (for you Crown enthusiasts).
Meet Your Chair:
Bart van Donselaar
Hey, I’m Bart. I’m 20 years old and will be one of your chairs of the African Union Peace and Security Council here at GrunnMUN 2021. This conference will mark my 21st MUN session and my 12th time chairing. I am currently studying International Relations & International Organization, and Minorities & Multilingualism at the University of Groningen, coping mostly by watching a lot of cat videos and listening to Cambodian rock music.
After my first MUN conference, I participated as a delegate, chair or secretariat member at other conferences. During my years in Groningen, I attended GrunnMUN and TEIMUN, which provided more than enough motivation to enthusiastically join GrunnMUN as a chair.
Fun Fact: I found out that I graduated high school during an MUN, and got to celebrate with all my MUN friends, doing something I love.