An Africa-CARICOM Day Message from the CARICOM Reparations Commission.

The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) joins in celebrating Africa-CARICOM Day on 7 September 2024 and welcomes the opportunity to honour the shared history and strong bonds of culture and ancestry that bring Africa and the Caribbean Community together. The groundbreaking Inaugural Summit of African and CARICOM Heads of Government held in September 2021 agreed to recognize 7 September as Africa-CARICOM Day and also articulated a vision for the development of a united Global Africa, with emphasis on people to peopleconnection, increased trade, investment and travel between the two regions.

The spirit of Pan-Africanism continues to shape, guide and inspire CARICOM-Africa relations and the work of the CRC. The Commission’s Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice has inspired new initiatives to facilitate the reconnection and resettlement in Africa of African-descended people from the historical diaspora. The Commission’s initiatives have also brought new awareness of the reparatory justice agenda on the African continent, for the crimes perpetrated by European colonizers for over 300 years, of the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans, chattel slavery and genocide of Indigenous people in the Caribbean. There is an outstanding debt to be paid for systemic exploitation, extraction of wealth, pain and suffering.

The Commission recognizes education is a cornerstone of our shared future with Africa and encourages through the Ten Point Plan, academic exchanges, joint research initiatives, educational partnerships and scholarships, to help bridge the knowledge gap and promote a deeper understanding between Africa and her diaspora. Culture is another priority area for collaboration and repair. The development of cultural institutions and the return of cultural property to many countries and communities in Africa, such as the return of the sacred Ngadji ofthe Pokomo Royal Kingdom, Kenya which has been held in the British Museum for over 100 years, is an issue with which the Commission is in full support and solidarity.

We celebrate the richness and diversity of African and Caribbean heritage and creative industries and recognize the profound contribution and impact of African cultural expression on the common heritage of the global community in built heritage, classical and popular culture.

Through the platform of Africa-CARICOM Day, the Commission continues to champion the cause for reparatory justice and highlight the critical need for CARICOM and Africa to act in concert in advancing the compelling joint claim for reparatory justice. The Commission therefore welcomes the designation by the African Union of the theme for 2025 as “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.” Reparations is a rallying cry and call to action globally to restore the dignity of the victims and their descendants, dismantle structural racism, and provide redress for systemic injustices and inequality.

The Commission hereby issues a strong call for the observance by the United Nations of a Second International Decade for People of African Descent as the current Decade comes to an end this year and calls on Africa and her diaspora to come together with a firm resolve to claim their right to reparatory justice.