A conference founded to bring Yale’s resources into an African room.
The history is still being written. The founding purpose remains visible in every edition.
Explore AboutOur history
The founding idea, 2020
Ornella Bayigamba and Richard Mbouombouo founded Yale Model African Union while serving as student leaders in the Yale International Relations Association. Their aim was to share Yale’s educational resources with African peers through a conference rooted in the questions facing the continent.
That origin established a durable premise: rigorous international-relations education should be accessible, pan-African and connected to the young people expected to shape the continent’s institutions.
The first conference, Kigali, 2022
Under inaugural president Francesca Nyakora, YMAU I brought 125 students from around the world to Kigali. Its programme paired African Union simulations with speakers and workshops addressing issues including climate change, gender-based violence, counterterrorism and the Belt and Road Initiative.
A travelling continental classroom
Across every edition, committees, practitioner conversations, leadership training and cultural exchange remained recurring parts of the experience. YMAU VI now comes to Addis Ababa, home of the African Union headquarters, placing the conference closer than ever to the institution its simulations are designed to help delegates understand.
- YMAU I · II
- Kigali · 2022 and 2023276 students across the first two editions · the first Ivy League-hosted Model African Union on the continent
- YMAU III
- Johannesburg151 students · the conference's first expansion beyond Kigali
- YMAU IV
- Nairobi325 students · first partnership with an African Union-affiliated body
- YMAU V
- Accra · 2026350+ students from 30+ countries · first major corporate partnership
- YMAU VI
- Addis Ababa · 15-17 March 2027
The record is part of the institution
Past executive reports, committee agendas and recap films are not templates for the 2027 programme. They are the conference archive: evidence of what YMAU has tried, learned and carried forward.
Dates and locations above describe completed editions. The detailed YMAU VI programme remains forthcoming.