Minister Hanna to lead delegation to Caribbean Reparations Conference

The Minister of Youth and Culture, the Hon. Lisa Hanna will lead a delegation to the 2^nd Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Conference on Reparations to be held in Antigua and Bermuda from October 12 – 14, 2014.

The delegation which includes Dr. Verene Shepherd, chairman of Jamaica’s National Commission on Reparations (NCR) and Lord Anthony Gifford, the legal representative to the Commission, is scheduled to depart the island on Saturday October, 11, 2014.

The regional conference is being convened by the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) and is being hosted by the Antigua and Bermuda Reparations Support Commission (ABRSC)/Antigua and Bermuda Government under the theme ‘An Expert Conference on Caribbean Reparations: Scientific Engagement and Community Mobilisation’.

The three day conference is aimed at intensifying discussions regarding the scientific and popular discourse on the CRC’s ten point plan on reparatory justice which was adopted by Heads of Government of CARICOM, at their Inter-Sessional Conference in St. Vincent & the Grenadines in March of this year. The ten point plan includes reparation in the areas of public health, education and literacy.

This conference is one of several activities to address the issue of reparations for Caribbean countries whose people suffered as a result of the transatlantic trade and chattel slavery.

To date, National Reparation Committees have been established in at least 14 CARICOM Member states.

The delegation is scheduled to return to the island on Wednesday, October 15, 2014.