United Nations - Colonialism

On December 22, 2018 the United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 73/262 (A global call for concrete action for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action) in which, [...] welcoming the call upon all the former colonial Powers for reparations, consistent with paragraphs 157 and 158 of the Durban Programme of Action, to redress the historical injustices of slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade, [...] encourages the Special Rapporteur […] to submit reports in this regard to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly […].

Reparations: progress at the United Nations

On September 19, 2023 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk presents report A/78/317 (Implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent) in which the United Nations Secretary-General sets out a series of concrete steps for governments to make reparations from former colonists a reality, building on proposals developed in recent years. The proposed measures, which must be guided by people of African descent themselves, include public apology, education and awareness raising, restitution and compensation.

The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in New York from 19 to September 26, 2023, during which the delegates from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Ghana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela called for reparations for colonialism in its various aspects (genocide of the native people, transatlantic trade, slavery, imperialism and neocolonialism).