The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU) are deepening cooperation on reparatory justice, with regional institutions working to coordinate research, legal strategies, diplomatic engagement and advocacy on behalf of Africans and people of African descent.
The partnership gained further momentum in 2026 after establishing a joint mechanism to advance reparatory justice. In June, the AU Commission and CARICOM Secretariat convened the first joint meeting of the African Union Committee of Experts on Reparations, the African Union Reference Group of Legal Experts on Reparations and the CARICOM Reparations Commission.
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The meeting followed the Addis Ababa Declaration on the Transcontinental Partnership in Pursuit of Reparatory Justice for Africans and People of African Descent, adopted at the Second Africa-CARICOM Summit in Ethiopia in September 2025. The declaration provides a framework for cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean on reparations and related issues.
The joint mechanisms identified several areas for collaboration, including research and knowledge exchange, legal strategy, coordinated diplomatic engagement, education and cultural programming, and greater involvement of civil society. The cooperation builds on more than two decades of advocacy and institutional work surrounding reparatory justice.
The issue received additional attention during Africa-CARICOM Day on September 7, when CARICOM Chairman and Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre said the Caribbean Community and its African partners were strengthening their cooperation on reparatory justice and diasporic unity. He also highlighted the 2024 memorandum of understanding between the CARICOM and AU secretariats as an important step in expanding institutional cooperation.
CARICOM subsequently held its Third Regional Conference on Reparations in Barbados from September 17–19. The conference brought together representatives from the Caribbean, Africa, the African diaspora and international organizations and focused on implementing the revised CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment.
CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett said the partnership with the African Union has strengthened the Caribbean’s reparations advocacy. She pointed to the 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration and the United Nations resolution adopted on March 25, 2026, which declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans the “gravest crime against humanity.”
The September conference also sought to move the reparations campaign from advocacy toward coordinated implementation. CARICOM said one expected outcome was a 2027–2031 Action Plan for Reparatory Justice, intended to establish measurable targets for joint action with organizations across the global African community.
The expanding Africa-CARICOM partnership comes as Caribbean and African leaders increasingly frame reparatory justice as both a historical and contemporary issue. CARICOM has emphasized that its reparations agenda extends beyond financial compensation to include recognition, accountability and transformation, while seeking broader cooperation among governments, institutions, civil society and the African diaspora.
