The Caribbean’s pursuit of reparatory justice is no longer centred solely on correcting the historical record. At a regional forum held alongside the 51st CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Saint Lucia, speakers argued that the movement is now evolving into a practical agenda for development, financing and public policy.
The Caribbean Conference on the Manifesto for Enlightenment, Socio-Economic Reparatory Justice Reporting and Sustainable Development brought together regional leaders, academics and advocates to examine how reparations can be translated into concrete national and regional action.
A significant outcome of the conference was the presentation of the completed socioeconomic reparatory justice report, jointly prepared by The Repair Campaign (TRC) and the Saint Lucia National Reparations Council, to the Government of Saint Lucia. The report forms part of a broader effort to equip governments with practical frameworks for advancing CARICOM’s Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice.
Delivering opening remarks, Ambassador Dr. June Soomer framed the discussion around the Manifesto on Enlightenment, urging Caribbean people to resist what she described as “period erasure” and to confront attempts to diminish or overlook the region’s historical experiences.
University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor and Chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, described the movement as one with global significance. “Reparatory Justice by which we say to the world we have the gift – a gift to help humanity restore the centre of gravity. This is the beginning,” he said. Sir Hilary also reflected on the lasting impact of slavery, recounting how enslaved African women were legally classified as property and how their children inherited that status from birth. He argued that these realities continue to shape modern inequalities and underscored why reparations remain, in his view, one of the defining human rights issues of the 21st century.
Former Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Ralph Gonsalves reinforced the legal and moral foundations of the movement. “Reparations is first of all an international human rights and justice matter. And within the frame that it is an international human rights and justice matter, in the case of the Caribbean, the quest for reparatory justice is to repair the legacies of underdevelopment which can be sourced and which we indeed sourced in the CARICOM’s ten point plan for reparatory justice.”
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity, Dr. Hyginus “Gene” Leon, challenged participants to rethink conventional approaches to development financing, arguing that existing systems fail to recognise the economic value of assets such as nature, productivity and human life.
Beyond the presentations, the forum reflected a broader shift within the regional reparations movement. Discussions extended beyond acknowledgement of historical injustices to questions of implementation, financing, intellectual property, sustainable development and regional cooperation. As CARICOM leaders continue deliberations on reparatory justice, the conference signalled that the conversation is increasingly focused not only on why reparations matter but on how they can be integrated into the Caribbean’s future development agenda.