2 July 2007

Front row (L-R): Somaliland Foreign Minister Abdillahi Duale, Dr Kwesi Anning of the Kofi Annan Centre, Dr Iqbal Jhazbhay (UNISA), Ambassador of Portugal Mrs. Vera Fernandes. Second row from right: Acting High Commissioner of Canada to Addis Ababa, Mr. David M Stockwell

UNISA's College of Human Sciences was, once again, under focus for its theoretical and applied research. The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, West Africa's premier institution for Conflict Prevention and Peace Studies, on the occasion of the African Union Summit, invited UNISA's Iqbal Jhazbhay to present his recent 400-page study on Somaliland: Post-War Nation Building and International Relations.

This recent multi-disciplinary study has attained a number of accolades. World-acclaimed African Studies scholar, Professor Ali Mazrui, described this study as a "major scholarly success". Other scholars such the well-known founder of the Somali Studies International Association, Professor Hussein Adam, praised Dr. Jhazbhay's study as, "highly original, relevant, valid and timely".

The Kofi Annan Centre 1-day seminar was hosted jointly with UNISA's Department of Religious Studies and Arabic on the topic "Somaliland and the African Union in the Horn of Africa". The seminar programme was attended by scholars, policymakers and student leaders. It received good media coverage by Ghana TV (27 June), TV Africa (29 June), radio Joy FM (29 June), and the print media, including Ghana's most popular Daily Graphic (2 July, p. 5), the well-known paper Daily Guide (27 June, p.14) and Public Agenda (29 June).

Dr. Jhazbhay, during his visit to Accra, also used the opportunity to interview policymakers and to observe the African Union's Ministerial Executive Council meetings. See below some of the photos of this historic Pan-African moment, when African intellectuals and heads of state debated the prime question of promoting continental integration and preventing conflicts.

Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo and Chair of the African Union Ministerial Executive Council seen here with Dr. Jhazbhay at his office

Deputy Chairperson of the AU Com- mission, the Rt Honourable Patrick Mazimhaka with Dr. Jhazbhay on the Accra coastline

Source: UNISA