Our university students participated in the 2026 Mock African Union Japan Conference and achieved the top score.
At the "Mock African Union (MAU) Japan Conference 2026," held at Sophia University in Tokyo on May 16th (Sat) and 17th (Sun), the delegation to which Masae Miyauchi (GCP* student), a third-year student in the Faculty of Letters at our university, belonged was selected for the "Best Position Paper" award, the highest honor given to only one country out of 53 participating delegations.
This conference was co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Sophia University, and was launched in 2024 to promote mutual understanding and strengthen partnerships between the next generation of leaders in Japan and Africa. This year's theme was "Ubuntu (I am because we are): Youth Co-Creating Shared Futures Through Human Coexistence," and students imitated the decision-making processes that actually exist in the African Union (AU), engaging in discussions about the future of Africa.
The conference was attended by delegations consisting of three representatives from each of the 53 participating countries. Prior to the conference, the participants held online preliminary discussions for approximately two months and jointly prepared a "position paper" (policy proposal) summarizing each country's position and policies.
Miyauchi's delegation was responsible for the Republic of Liberia. Leveraging the country's strength—its very high proportion of young people, which from a sociological perspective is "a sufficient proportion to bring about positive social change"—they proposed institutionalizing an "advisory committee with young and elderly members paired together" to bridge the gap between "laws" and "social realities" in the country, by combining traditional wisdom with advanced technology and ensuring transparency.
Upon receiving the award, Miyauchi said, "I was able to connect what I have learned at Soka University with how I want to contribute to society in the future, and I feel like I have reached the starting point of living as a global citizen. I am confident that the speaking ability, argumentation skills, and writing skills that were necessary at the conference were all cultivated through the GCP and the Faculty of Letters. I am very happy that I was able to give back to the kindness I have received so far in a tangible form. I would like to continue to be the kind of person who can pass on that kindness to the next generation."
*GCP = Global Citizenship Programme
