Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 13, 2014 News
One important lesson has been learned from the study of several reparatory cases in recent decades. It is evident that weak and fragmented nations and communities do not receive reparatory justice because they have neither the will nor the diplomatic fortitude to press their claims.
This is according to Chair of the Guyana Reparations Committee, Eric Phillips, who is also a member of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA).
Current Members of the Guyana Reparations Committee are Eric Phillips, Chair (African Cultural & Development Assoc.), Professor Emeritus Dr. Winston McGowan, Vice Chairman Jenny Daly (Museum of African Heritage/MCY&S); Representative (Ministry of Amerindian Affairs) Jean La Rose (Amerindian Peoples Association); Deon Abrams (Pan African Organization (Guyana Branch); Ras Leon Saul (Guyana Rastafarian Council) ( Secretary ); Noah Yahshuarun (Descendants of Manumitted Africans); Jonathan Adams (Blak Reparations Forum); Ethel Marjorie McCaskey (Land Rights Advocate); Dimitri Nicholson (Youth Leader ), Royston Peters (Essequibo Reparations Committee) and Eric Welcome (Berbice Reparations Committee).
According to Phillips, reparation is won by states that place social respect for the rights of citizens high on the development agenda. The Caribbean needs to leverage all available diplomatic channels and to speak as one voice on the issue. Channels to be utilized by the Region are as follows: United Nations; African Union; Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Pan African Congress and other supportive governments.
He explained that for reparations to be meaningful it must at the foundation offer each person of enslaved and indigenous ancestry the opportunity to be impacted by the programs aimed at improving self esteem, educational and technical competence and economic and financial self sustainability. These programmes are best defined by the beneficiaries.
Public education in the Region and in the European States where claims are being made is especially important. It is critical that the public in CARICOM be fully engaged in dialogue on the issue of reparations, and that the general public, but especially the youth in CARICOM are knowledgeable and supportive of the issue, Phillips said.
In Europe, it is equally important to cultivate public opinion in favour of the Caribbean case, to be successful.
The Caribbean Diaspora, Phillips noted, should be engaged in the dialogue and in helping to advance the case in Europe. Public education activities at the national level will be determined by the National Committees and may include: Town Hall Meetings and national consultations; Traditional media: broadcast media, newspapers, brochures, quick facts, press conferences; New media: internet based social media and websites; Eminent spokespersons and Champions and at the regional level.
Ras Leon Saul of the Guyana Rastafarian Council explained that the outcomes of the reparation are: a better economic reality for Africans and Amerindians; Better health and educational services for both Groups in particular and the Nation in general and the removal of the barriers to competitiveness in African and Amerindian communities which make Them technically, economically, educationally and culturally competitive with other communities.
Ras Leon Saul lamented that the Caribbean was denied participation in Europe’s industrialization process, and was confined to the role of producer and exporter of raw materials. This system was designed to extract maximum value from the region and to enable maximum wealth accumulation in Europe.
The effectiveness of this policy meant that the Caribbean entered its nation building phase as a technologically and scientifically ill-equipped- backward space within the postmodern world economy.
Generations of Caribbean youth, as a consequence, have been denied membership and access to the science and technology culture that is the world’s youth patrimony.
Technology transfer and science sharing for development must be a part of the Caricom Reparations Justice Programme (CRJP).
The CARICOM Reparations Commission was established last September following the mandate of the Thirty-fourth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government which was held in July 2013 in Trinidad and Tobago, w here it was agreed that National Committees on Reparations would be established in Member States. The Guyana Reparations Committee was established by the Government of Guyana in October 2013.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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