Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-President & Vice-Principal International and Professor of Security, Leadership & Development, King’s College London,, accompanied by her colleague Ms Shuvai Nyoni visited the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on 18th August 2022. Prof Funmi, met UJ Vice- Chancellor & Principal, Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala and his Executive team to discuss further collaboration in relation to Politics and International Relations.
The discussions also focused on cooperation in the area of SDGs as Prof. Funmi is the Council Chair, United Nations University (UNU), which has a specific focus on the UN Sustainable Developments Goals.
Prof Marwala has recently been appointed as the new Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo, Japan and joins the ranks of being one of only three South Africans who have ever held the appointment as Under-Secretary General of the UN.
Further to the discussions with the Vice-Chancellor and Executive members, Prof. Funmi also visited the Department of Politics and International Relations and met with Prof. Kammila Naidoo, Executive Dean: Faculty of Humanities and relevant colleagues.
Thereafter, Prof Olonisakin and Ms Nyoni visited the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) to meet with Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, Director of JIAS and the JIAS fellows. They also met with Prof Siphamandla Zondi, Director of the Institute for Pan- African Thought and Conversation. Ms Shuvai Nyoni, the Executive Director of the African Leadership Centre, a research and training initiative jointly established by KCL and the University of Nairobi, further explored issues relevant to the Pan-African context. The ALC focuses on nurturing next-generation African leaders, thinkers and practitioners within the peace, security and development sector. Key discussion points were regarding planning for the African Union at 20 commemorations and the forthcoming conference on Technology and Society hosted by UJ in October 2022.
“Prof. Olonisakin and the University of Johannesburg share a special relationship as this is her third visit to the university, and we have hosted scholars of the African Leadership Centre at UJ. We are confident that we can expand our existing relationship with King’s College London and the ALC to include other strategic areas and look forward to forging a strong relationship with the United Nations University (UNU) around the SDGs,” said Ms Anisa Khan, Director: Academic Services, Division for Internationalisation.
