Current:Home > StocksGhana reparations summit calls for global fund to compensate Africans for slave trade-LoTradeCoin
Ghana reparations summit calls for global fund to compensate Africans for slave trade
View Date:2024-12-23 19:40:55
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Delegates at a reparations summit in Ghana agreed Thursday to establish a Global Reparation Fund to push for overdue compensation for millions of Africans enslaved centuries ago during the transatlantic slave trade.
The Accra Reparation Conference adds to the growing demands for reparations after about 12 million Africans were forcefully taken by European nations from the 16th to the 19th century and enslaved on plantations that built wealth at the price of misery.
Centuries after the end of the slave trade, people of African descent around the world continue “to be victims of systemic racial discrimination and racialized attacks,” concluded a recent report by a special U.N. forum which supported reparations as “a cornerstone of justice in the 21st century.”
“It is time for Africa — whose sons and daughters had their freedoms controlled and sold into slavery — to also receive reparations,” said Ghana’s President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo at the conference, attended by senior government officials from across Africa as well as the diaspora community.
Slave reparations have become an issue the world “must confront and can no longer ignore,” said Akufo-Addo, calling out the British and other European nations who enriched themselves during the slave trade while “enslaved Africans themselves did not receive a penny.”
Delegates to the conference in Accra did not say how such a reparation fund would operate. But Gnaka Lagoke, an assistant professor of history and pan-African studies, said it should be used to “correct the problems” that the continent is facing in all sectors of its economy.
Compensations are based on “moral and legal rights and dignity of the people,” said Ambassador Amr Aljowailey, strategic advisor to the deputy chairman of the African Union Commission, who read out the resolution titled The Accra Proclamation.
In addition to the Global Reparation Fund, which will be championed by a committee of experts set up by the A.U. Commission in collaboration with African nations, “a special envoy will engage in campaigns as well as litigation and judicial efforts,” said Aljowailey.
Activists have said reparations should go beyond direct financial payments to also include developmental aid for countries, the return of colonized resources and the systemic correction of oppressive policies and laws.
The required amount for compensation will be decided through a “negotiated settlement (that will) benefit the masses,” said Nkechi Taifa, director of the U.S.-based Reparation Education Project.
____
Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Wisconsin’s high court to hear oral arguments on whether an 1849 abortion ban remains valid
- Amid Hurricane Helene’s destruction, sports organizations launch relief efforts to aid storm victims
- Newsom wants a do-over on the lemon car law he just signed. Will it hurt buyers?
- The Country’s Second-Largest Coal Plant May Get a Three-Year Reprieve From Retirement. Why?
- Joan says 'Yes!' to 'Golden Bachelorette' finale fantasy beach proposal. Who did she pick?
- 'They didn't leave:' ER staff worked for days on end to help Helene victims
- SEC, Big Ten moving closer to taking their college football ball home and making billions
- 'Devastating consequences': Climate change likely worsened floods after Helene
- Cameron Brink set to make Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut
- Why Zendaya Hasn’t Watched Dancing With the Stars Since Appearing on the Show
Ranking
- UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight card, odds, how to watch, date
- No, That Wasn't Jack Nicholson at Paris Fashion Week—It Was Drag Queen Alexis Stone
- Garth Brooks accused of rape in lawsuit from hair-and-makeup artist
- Orioles wonder what's next after another playoff flop against Royals in wild-card series
- 24 more monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina lab are recovered unharmed
- Jennifer Hudson Hilariously Confronts Boyfriend Common on Marriage Plans
- Saoirse Ronan made a life for herself. Now, she's 'ready to be out there again.'
- Soul-searching and regret over unheeded warnings follow Helene’s destruction
Recommendation
-
‘COP Fatigue’: Experts Warn That Size and Spectacle of Global Climate Summit Is Hindering Progress
-
Bank of America says that widespread service outages have been fully resolved
-
Wilmer Valderrama needs his sweatshirts, early morning runs and 'The Golden Bachelor'
-
‘Beyond cruel’: Newsom retaliates against this LA suburb for its ban on homeless shelters
-
Up to 20 human skulls found in man's discarded bags, home in New Mexico
-
Costco goes platinum. Store offering 1-ounce bars after success of gold, silver
-
Black man details alleged beating at the hands of a white supremacist group in Boston
-
Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Joins Olivia Jade Giannulli on Family Vacation With Mom Lori Loughlin