CARICOM reparations conference set for Barbados

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will convene its third regional conference on reparations in Barbados this month as the regional bloc seeks to strengthen its push for reparatory justice and deepen ties with Africa and the global African diaspora.

The three-day conference, under the theme ‘Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment’, will be held from September 17 to 19 at the Wyndham Grand Sam Lord’s Castle in St Philip.

It is being hosted by the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), the Government of Barbados, and the CARICOM Secretariat.

The forum comes in the wake of the adoption of United Nations Resolution A/RES/80/250 on March 25, which declared the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity”.

The conference will provide practical guidance on implementing the revised CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, ‘A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment’ while examining emerging perspectives on reparatory justice from African and Caribbean political discourse.

It will also seek to broaden public dialogue on the revised Ten-Point Plan and assess progress in the global reparations movement against the backdrop of the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, and the African Union Decade for Reparatory Justice.

Organisers said the conference is also intended to strengthen collaboration among CARICOM, the African Union, civil society, and the global African Diaspora, while encouraging greater political, diplomatic, and community participation in the regional and international reparations movement.

A major expected outcome is the adoption of a 2027-2031 Action Plan for Reparatory Justice, which will establish measurable targets for joint action with partner organisations across the global African community.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett, and CRC Chair Sir Hilary Beckles are scheduled to address the opening ceremony.

The programme will also feature a high-level session involving CARICOM heads of government, members of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, and representatives of the African Union.

Participants will include CARICOM ministers responsible for reparatory justice, national reparations commissions and committees, associate members, and representatives of the United Nations.

Reparations activists from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Latin America are also expected, along with scholars, civil-society leaders, cultural figures, and youth delegates.

The overarching objective, organisers said, is to re-energise CARICOM’s advocacy through the CRC and deepen solidarity between Africa and its diaspora.