Social Work Professor Leads Student Delegation to United Nations

Dr. Samson Chama led a team of Master of Social Work (MSW) students on a trip to the United Nations, the culminating event of a two-semester project funded by the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education (KAKI). KAKI is a grant mechanism under the auspices of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Chama’s grant supports the Enhancing Minority Student Global Development Participation Through Collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Project. Alabama A&M University was one of the top three schools to receive this competitive grant, including the University of Michigan and the University of Georgia. 

Through directed readings, class assignments and country projects, the students gained the necessary preparation to approach their time at the United Nations with a solid foundation in international development.  While at the UN, Dr. Chama and MSW Program students LeQuitta Gaskins, Bal Mainali, Sarah Taylor, and Kentrell Thomas attended briefings in the General Assembly, Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. They also visited the United Nations Global Impact program and attended a scheduled meeting at the Kenya UN Mission.

Another delegation of students will visit the UN in September 2019. They, too, will be led by Dr. Chama, who is the principal investigator of the grant. The Global Development Participation through collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Project is consistent with Priority 1, Goal 4 of AAMU’s Strategic Plan 2015-2025, which aims to Enhance AAMU’s Distinctiveness and Competitiveness through providing our students with the necessary interdisciplinary tools to address the most complex issues facing our global society. Given the project’s innovativeness, potential to advance the field of international social work education and extension of the goals and priorities of the University, the long-term goal is to make this project an ongoing program.