A Witsie will be representing South Africa at an upcoming UN conference in Bali.
A third-year Wits urban and regional planning student has been selected to represent South Africa at the Asia World Model United Nations (MUN) conference in Bali, Indonesia, in July 2020.
Anelisa Geca, 20, told Wits Vuvuzela she hopes to return from the conference with skills that will help her further her independent research project, which focuses on homeless people living in cemeteries around the City of Johannesburg.
The conference, which is hosted by the International Global Network, a youth-centred programme, brings together hundreds of young people from all over the world. The network’s aim is to teach participants about diplomacy in multiculturalism.
Farhan Walidina, a representative of the Asia World MUN, said, “The [conference] is a simulation of The UN Conference … it aims to create future leaders who are ready to encounter world issues with a spirit of togetherness and partnership.”
“I’m going there to gain some knowledge and that knowledge I would like to share with my colleagues and the broader Wits community,” Geca said.
Garth Klein, senior director in the School of Architecture and Planning, told Wits Vuvuzela, “This is a wonderful opportunity for Anelisa, both in relation to her personal growth and her academic development.”
The head of the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Nnamdi Elleh, added, “We are in full support of Ms Geca’s selction and we wish her well … We encourage our students to have global exposure and gain work experience.”
With the theme of this year’s conference centred on peace and security, Geca says she hopes to shed light on the increasing wealth gap, youth unemployment rates and issues of gender-based violence that currently plague the South African population.
“We are not an island. It is [necessary] for us to understand the global context of things,” she said.
After completing the four-day conference the participants of the Asia World MUN will receive certificates recognising them as junior delegates of the United Nations.
FEATURED IMAGE: Anelisa Geca, urban and regional planning student, standing in front of Great Hall as she awaits her trip to Bali for a debating conference. Photo: Akhona Matshoba
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