Barbados to host third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations, Sept. 17–19

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Barbados will host the third Caribbean Community (Caricom)  Regional Conference on Reparations later this month, the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat announced on Wednesday. The September 17-19 conference will be held under the theme “Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment” and will be hosted by the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), the Barbados government of Barbados and the Caricom Secretariat. “This major Caricom forum on reparations follows the adoption of the landmark United Nations Resolution A/RES/80/250 on 25 March 2026, which declared the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity,” the secretariat said. It said that the conference will provide practical guidance on implementing the revised Caricom Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment, while highlighting new perspectives in reparatory justice emerging from African and Caribbean political discourse. “It will assess global progress in the reparations movement, particularly in the context 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,” said the organisers. In addition, the organisers said that the conference will strengthen collaboration among Caricom, the African Union, civil society, and the global African diaspora. It aims to invigorate political, diplomatic, and community participation in the regional and international movement for reparatory justice, ensuring that the momentum for change is sustained and broadened. The organisers said that the overarching objective of the conference is to re-energise Caricom’s advocacy through the CRC and deepen solidarity between Africa and its diaspora. “A key outcome will be the adoption of a 2027–2031 Action Plan for Reparatory Justice, which will set measurable targets for joint action with partner organisations across the global African community.” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley; Caricom Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett; and CRC Chair, Sir Hilary Beckles, will address the opening ceremony with the organisers saying that among the highlights will be a high-level session featuring Caricom leaders,  members of the Caricom Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, and representatives of the African Union. The conference will also bring together Caricom ministers responsible for reparatory justice, National Reparations Commissions and Committees, Associate Members and the United Nations. Global reparations activists from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, and Latin America will also participate, alongside scholars, civil-society leaders, cultural figures, and youth delegates. The first two Caricom Regional Conference on Reparations were held in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbados in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

  Barbados will host the third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations from September 17–19, bringing regional and international voices together to chart the next steps in the Caribbean’s reparatory justice movement. According to a CARICOM press release, the conference is... The post Barbados to host third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations appeared first on Dominica News Online.