CARICOM opens “a new era” in the struggle for reparatory justice

Caribbean governments, scholars and civil society gathered in St. Philip, Barbados, from 17 to 19 September 2026 for the Third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations, held under the theme "Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment".

The conference relaunched an expanded CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, adopted by the region's Heads of Government in July 2026. The plan addresses the historical crimes of African enslavement, Indigenous dispossession and genocide, and sets out demands that go far beyond financial compensation: public health, education, psychological rehabilitation, cultural development, support for Indigenous peoples, gender justice and debt cancellation.

CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett placed the regional effort in a growing international context, including a UN resolution adopted on 25 March 2026 that describes racialised chattel enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity, and the partnership with the African Union built around the 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration. Since the CARICOM Reparations Commission was created in 2013, twelve member states have set up national reparations commissions or committees.

The message from Barbados was clear: reparations are understood not as charity or as a single payment, but as a process of repair that confronts the lasting structures left by colonialism.

Source: Voice Online – CARICOM declares a new era in fight for reparations