From Resolution to Action: CARICOM’s Third Reparations Conference Sets Global Agenda

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.

CARICOM Secretariat | Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana | Wednesday, 2 September 2026:      The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), Government of Barbados and the CARICOM Secretariat will host the Third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations under the theme “Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment” from 17-19 September 2026. The three-day activity will take place at the Wyndham Grand Sam Lord’s Castle, Saint Philip, Barbados.

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.”

Focus
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 amplify public dialogue on the revised Ten-Point Plan and 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.

In addition, 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.

Expected Outcomes
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.

Participants
Barbados Prime Minister, Honourable Mia Amor Mottley; CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett; and CRC Chair, Sir Hilary Beckles, will address the opening ceremony.  Highlights will include a high-level session featuring CARICOM Heads of Government, members of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, and representatives of the African Union.

The Conference will bring together CARICOM Ministers responsible for reparatory justice, National Reparations Commissions and Committees, Associate Members and the United Nations. Global reparations activists from the USA, Canada, UK, EU, and Latin America will also participate, alongside scholars, civil-society leaders, cultural figures, and youth delegates.

Further details and registration are available on the official Conference website.

Editor’s Notes

The First CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations was hosted by St. Vincent and the Grenadines in September 2013, marking the launch of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. That event featured the drafting of the Commission’s Terms of Reference and a major opening ceremony headlined by the late Hon. Bunny Wailer, OJ, who was received as patron of the regional reparations movement.

The Second CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations was held in Antigua and Barbuda in September 2014, presenting a series of expert panels on a wide range of issues in the reparations discourse, aligned with the CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice. The Most Hon. PJ Patterson delivered the keynote address at the opening and contributed to the discussions alongside other regional and international experts.

The Commission has also organised several important symposia and conferences since 2014. These included “Western Banking, Colonialism and Reparations” held in Antigua and Barbuda in October 2019; the virtual symposium “Sir William Arthur Lewis: Founder of Reparations for Caribbean Development” in June 2020; and the CRC Tenth Anniversary Symposium “Reparations and Royalty, Africa and Europe: Exploding Myths and Empowering Truths” held in Jamaica in March 2023.

Helpful Links:

Third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations
https://caricomreparationsconference.com/

Revised CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment
https://caricom.org/documents/the-caricom-caribbean-community-ten-point-plan-for-reparations-a-manifesto-for-the-coming-enlightenment/

For media queries, please contact:
Communications Unit, CARICOM Secretariat
media@caricom.org | dike.noel@caricom.org