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As Emancipation Month 2022 continues, Saint Lucia’s National Reparations Committee (NRC) and National Cultural Foundation (NCF) will host a second special international hybrid broadcast from Castries on Wednesday (August 31), this time in honor of International Day of the United Nations. for People of African Descent (IDPAD).
The broadcast, on the National Television Network (NTN), will feature a keynote presentation by the Representative of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, Hon. Ambassador Dr. June Soomer.
It will also feature a guest presentation by the President of the African Diaspora Development Initiative (ADDI) Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao, who is also a former Permanent Representative of the African Union (AU) to the United States.
The United Nations designated 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent and in 2020 designated August 31 to be celebrated annually by member states as the International Day for People of African Descent from 2021.
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For this second year, the NRC and CDF will collaborate with the Government of Saint Lucia, related UN agencies and the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) to ensure that the 90-minute broadcast reflects the international and regional dimensions for all citizens of the Caribbean.
Ambassador Soomer’s topic will be: Beyond the Decade – Why the Permanent Forum is important to the Caribbean and Ambassador Chihombori-Quao will clarify ADDI’s plans for Caribbean representation.
Messages from the Government of Saint Lucia, UN Agencies and the CRC are awaited.
The broadcast will start at 11:30 AM and end at 12:30 PM.
See also
Wednesday’s broadcast follows a first held last Wednesday, August 24, to observe the International Day of Remembrance of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its Abolition, with a moving presentation by the historian, author, poet and linguist of the Caribbean and Africa from Saint Lucian based in London. , Dr Morgan Dalphinis, who drew connections between Caribbean and African history from pre-slavery to the present and made the case for Africa to support the CARICOM case for reparations for slavery and indigenous genocide.
Dr Dalphin’s also spoke about his latest book The History of St Lucia 1654-1915 (available on Amazon).
Meanwhile, NRC and CDF are also gearing up for a third broadcast on Wednesday 7 September to mark the First Anniversary of last year’s inaugural Caricom-African Union (AU) Summit.
SOURCE: Saint Lucia National Reparations Committee. Header photo courtesy of Matthew Spiteri (Unsplash.com).
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