Global Reparation Fund

Last updated

The Global Reparation Fund is a fund established by the African Union and Caricom that seeks reparations for slavery from their former European colonial powers. It was established in 2023.

Contents

The fund was established by the African Union and Caricom at the Accra Reparation Conference, a four-day conference in Accra in November 2023. [1] [2] It seeks reparations for slavery from the former European colonial powers of African and Caribbean countries. [2] It has not been announced how the fund would operate. [1] The fund will be based in Africa. [2]

A draft version of the expected Accra proclamation stated that the African Union would engage with the United Nations to established whether "acts of enslavement against Africans constituted serious violations of human rights at the time they were committed" and that "litigation options" would be explored. [2] The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, said at the conference that "The entire period of slavery meant that our progress, economically, culturally, and psychologically, was stifled. There are legions of stories of families who were torn apart ... You cannot quantify the effects of such tragedies, but they need to be recognised". Akufo-Addo said that the "entire continent of Africa deserves a formal apology from the European nations involved in the slave trade" and that "No amount of money can restore the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade and its consequences. But surely, this is a matter that the world must confront and can no longer ignore". The Secretary General of Caricom, Carla Barnett, said at the conference that "We are at an important inflection point in the global movement for reparatory justice" and that it was critical to "speak with one voice to advance the call for reparations". [2]

Delegates from the African Union began discussions on how to work with Caribbean nations in The Bahamas in July 2023. [2]

An official from the British Foreign Office attended the conference as part of their "standard diplomatic engagement". The British government has resisted potential reparations. [2]

Reactions

The Barbadian ambassador to Caricom, David Comissiong, said that "people feel encouraged by the amount of work that has been done to create a global reparations movement". [2]

The British Parliamentarian Bell Ribeiro-Addy attended the conference and said that the joining of the African Union and Caricom showed that "They’ve sent a very clear message that this is something that can't be ignored any more". [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abolitionism</span> Movement to end slavery

Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery and liberate slaves around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Ghana</span>

Politics of Ghana takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Ghana is both head of state and head of government, and of a two party system. The seat of government is at Golden Jubilee House. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Ghana</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Ghana face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sexual acts between males have been illegal as "unnatural carnal knowledge" in Ghana since the colonial era. The majority of Ghana's population hold anti-LGBT sentiments. Physical and violent homophobic attacks against LGBT people occur, and are often encouraged by the media and religious and political leaders. At times, government officials, such as police, engage in such acts of violence. Young gay people are known to be disowned by their families and communities and evicted from their homes. Families often seek conversion therapy from religious groups when same-sex orientation or non-conforming gender identity is disclosed; such "therapy" is reported to be commonly administered in abusive and inhumane settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nana Akufo-Addo</span> President of Ghana since 2017

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 2017. He previously served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2003 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007 under the Kufuor-led administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Ghanaian general election</span>

General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2008. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, a run-off election was held on 28 December 2008 between the two candidates who received the most votes, Nana Akufo-Addo of the governing New Patriotic Party and John Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress. Mills was certified as the victor by a margin of less than one percent, winning the presidency on his third attempt. It is to date the closest election in Ghanaian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan John Kyerematen</span> Ghanaian politician

Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen is a Ghanaian politician, a corporate executive, a diplomat and an international public servant. He served as Ghana’s Minister for Trade and Industry from 2017 to 2023. Kyerematen was Ghana's Ambassador to the United States and later Minister of Trade and Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD), and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) during President John Kufuor's administration. Kyerematen has served as a trade advisor at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he coordinated the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral Commission of Ghana</span> Official body responsible for public elections in Ghana

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) is the official body in Ghana responsible for all public elections. Made up of seven members and there are seven (7) functional departments at the Head Office. Each department is headed by a Director who is assisted by Unit Heads. The departments are:- Electoral services; Human Resource; Finance; Training; Administration; Research, Monitoring & Evaluation; Information Technology. its independence is guaranteed by the 1992 Ghana constitution. The current commission was established by the Electoral Commission Act (Act 451) of 1993. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was the first substantive chairman of the commission, from 1993 to 2015. He was succeeded by Charlotte Osei as the first female chairman of the commission from 2015 to June 2018. Jean Adukwei Mensah succeeded Charlotte Osei in July 2018. On December 5, 2018, the Electoral commission chaired by Jean Adukwei Mensah reverted to the old logo showing the Coat of arms of Ghana and a ballot box showing the hand casting its votes, after the controversy over the new logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Slave Route Project</span> UNESCO initiative

The Slave Route Project is a UNESCO initiative that was officially launched in 1994 in Ouidah, Benin. It is rooted in the mandate of the organization, which believes that ignorance or concealment of major historical events constitutes an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation among peoples. The project breaks the silence surrounding the slave trade and slavery that has affected all continents and caused great upheavals that have shaped our modern societies. In studying the causes, the modalities and the consequences of slavery and the slave trade, the project seeks to enhance the understanding of diverse histories and heritages stemming from this global tragedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Akufo-Addo</span> First Lady of Ghana

Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo is a Ghanaian public figure and the current First Lady of Ghana as the wife of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reparations for slavery</span> Political justice concept

Reparations for slavery is the application of the concept of reparations to victims of slavery and/or their descendants. There are concepts for reparations in legal philosophy and reparations in transitional justice. Reparations can take many forms, including practical and financial assistance to the descendants of enslaved people, acknowledgements or apologies to peoples or nations negatively affected by slavery, or honouring the memories of people who were enslaved by naming things after them.

The history of African Americans in Ghana goes back to individuals such as American civil rights activist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), who settled in Ghana in the last years of his life and is buried in the capital, Accra. Since then, other African Americans who are descended from slaves imported from areas within the present-day jurisdiction of Ghana and neighboring states have applied for permanent resident status in Ghana. As of 2015, the number of African American residents has been estimated at around 3,000 people, a large portion of whom live in Accra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Ofori-Atta</span> Ghanaian investment banker and government official

Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, is a Ghanaian investment banker who served as the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning in the cabinet of Nana Akufo-Addo from 2017 to 2024. He was a co-founder of Databank Group, a Ghanaian financial services company, and served as executive chairman until 2012 when he resigned. He was nominated by President Nana Akufo-Addo on 10 January 2017 and assumed office on 27 January 2017 as finance minister. On February 14, 2024, he was relieved of his position as the finance minister of Ghana by Nana Akufo-Addo.

Racism in Denmark commonly targets immigrants, particularly non-white or non-Western immigrants, as well as Black people, Romani people, and Inuit people. Jewish people and Muslims experience antisemitism and Islamophobia in Denmark. Anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in Denmark is tied to the centuries long history of the Danish slave trade and Danish colonialism in the Americas and Africa. Black Caribbean people, West Africans, Inuit people, and Sámi people in particular have been negatively affected by colonial Dano-Norwegian rule in the Danish West Indies, Ghana, Greenland, and the Sápmi region in northern Norway. Anti-racist and anti-colonial activists believe that Denmark and other Nordic countries have a "colonial amnesia" that results in many Danish people believing that Denmark is free from racism and had little involvement in European colonialism.

Abena Pokua Adompim Busia is a Ghanaian writer, poet, feminist, lecturer and diplomat. She is a daughter of the former prime minister of Ghana, Kofi Abrefa Busia, and is the sister of actress Akosua Busia. Busia is an associate professor of Literature in English, and of women's and gender studies at Rutgers University. She is Ghana's ambassador to Brazil, appointed in 2017, with accreditation to the other 12 republics of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 African Games</span> Multi-sport event in Accra, Ghana

The 13th African Games hosted in Ghana is being held from 8–23 March 2024. Despite having Accra as the main host city, the games are being held in two sub-host cities: Kumasi and Cape Coast. The games were initially planned to be held in August 2023, however a failure to complete facilities on time and arguments over marketing revenue resulted in the games being delayed to March 2024.

Virginia Hesse is a Ghanaian civil servant and diplomat who served as Ghana's ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. She spent a majority of her professional career in the Ghanaian public service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals and Ghana</span> Set of 17 global development goals defined by the United Nations for the year 2030

The Sustainable Development Goals and Ghana describes how the Sustainable Development Goals are being implemented in Ghana. The SDGs are also known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and are a set of seventeen global goals for 169 specific areas developed by the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals were formed in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Its aimed to produce a set of universal goals claimed to meet the urgent environmental, economic and political problems facing the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo</span> Ghanaian presidential administration from 2017 to present

The presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo began on 7 January 2017. Following the 2016 Ghanaian general elections, Nana Akufo-Addo the flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party, succeeded John Mahama as the 5th President of the Ghanaian Fourth Republic after winning by a landslide. He won a second term on 9 December 2020 in a tightly contested race against National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate and former president, John Mahama.

The Ghana National Mosque is a mosque in Ghana. It is the second largest mosque in West Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germany–Ghana relations</span> Bilateral relations

Germany–Ghana relations are good and Ghana is one of the priority countries for German development aid. Official Diplomatic Relations between the two countries were established in the 1950s, but contacts between the two societies go back much further and can be traced back to the 17th century.

References

  1. 1 2 Kokutse, Francis (16 November 2023). "A Ghana reparations summit agrees on a global fund to compensate Africans for the slave trade". ABC News .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gentleman, Amelia (17 November 2023). "African and Caribbean nations agree move to seek reparations for slavery". The Guardian .