Fireworks at UN Forum on People of African Descent over reparation, women, girls rights
The second day of the 4th Session of the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) was marked by fiery presentations calling for immediate and strong actions concerning reparatory justice for decades of unpaid slave labor, and for enforcement of women and girls’ human rights.
Declared open by the new Chairman of PFPAD, Ambassador Martin Kimani, the two thematic discussions on “Reparatory Justice for Africa and People of African Descent” and “Human Rights of Women and Girls of African Descent,” were moderated by immediate past Chairperson of PFPAD, Dr. June Soomer and current Deputy Chairman of the Forum, Gaynel Curry respectively.
The 4th Session of PFPAD is holding at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, and the panelists for the discussion on reparatory justice were Angela Naa Afoley Odai, Dr. Hilary Brown and Nkechi Taifa, while the discussion on women and girls’ human rights had Dr. June Soomer, Diene Keita and Satang Nabaneh as panelists.
After the presentations by the panelists, members of the Forum, representatives of UN agencies, representatives of delegations of member states, civil society groups, and individuals spoke on the two themes, and running through the presentations were moving testimonies of grave injustice perpetrated against People of African Descent and calls for immediate actions to redress the decades-old injustices.
There were calls such as “reparations now!,” “time for action is now!,” “reparation is a right!,” “nothing about us without us!,” “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere!,” “they stole us, they sold us, they owe us!,” “forward ever, backward never!,” “enough is enough,” “reparation for women of African Descent!,” “no justice until the humanity of women of African Descent is recognized!,” “women’s rights are human rights,” and “we must all speak up for women and girls.”
Collective action was emphasized and demands for a permanent seat for Africa on the UN Security Council, for the inclusion of a youth as a member of the Permanent Forum, for the abrogation of colonial era laws that are still in force in some places, for a Session of PFPAD to be held on African soil, for land rights for people of African Descent, for the criminalization of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and for mass enlightenment on the issues at stake were, among other demands, vigorously made.
As the discussions at the UN Headquarters were going on, several side events were also being held at different locations in the City and on virtual platforms on different topics relating to the theme of the 4th Session of PFPAD, which is “Africa and People of African Descent: United for Reparatory Justice in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
The thematic discussions continue today, Wednesday, April 16, 2025 on “Policy-making and Systemic Racism: A Human Rights-based Approach,” and “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Justice for People of African Descent.”
Tomorrow, April 17, 2025, the 4th Session of PFPAD will come to an end with a closed meeting of the Forum’s Members, and thereafter, a discussion on “Haiti’s Independence Debt: 200 Years After,” before the adoption of the preliminary conclusions and recommendations of the Session.
