Agenda -
UK Reparations Conference 2024
Sunday 27 October
09:00 - 10:00 - REGISTRATION at Front Desk
10:00 - 11:00 - WELCOME & LIBATION in The Light
LIBATION
Jendayi Serwah-Tagoe (Afrikan ConneXions Consortium)
CONFERENCE WELCOME
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (Chair, APPG for Afrikan Reparations)
Clive Lewis MP (Vice-chair, APPG for Afrikan Reparations)
Ann Morgan (Co-Clerk, Reparations Working Group, Quakers in Britain)
Jasmine Mickens (Advocacy Officer, Open Society Foundations)
Abdirahim Hassan (Founder, Coffee Afrik)
Jacqueline McKenzie (Partner, Leigh Day)
11:00 - 12:30 - OPENING PLENARY: ‘From Acknowledgement to Action’ in The Light
Kofi Klu (Chief Executive Commissioner at PANAFRIINDABA)
Onyekachi Wambu (AFFORD)
Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE
Lord Anthony Gifford KC
Rt. Hon Diane Abbott MP
Esther Xosei (Executive Director, Maangamizi Educational Trust)
Password: 139975
12:30 - 13:30 - LUNCH
13:30 - 15:30 - BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Breakout:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & SECURITY
THE LIGHT
This session will explore how global dynamics, historical inequities, and present-day international policies impact the pursuit of reparative justice. Highlighting existing international frameworks that could be leveraged for reparative justice and identifying gaps in these systems that often make accountability difficult.
Chair: Kobina Amokwandoh (INOSAAR)
Professor Justin Hansford (UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent) | Priya Lukka (Political economist) | Omar Farfan (PRIO & Radio Zapote, Mexico) | Piaba Madokwe (Former MP, Republic of South Africa) | Dr. Sahidi Bilan (University of Sunderland in London) | Makmid Kamara (Founder- Reform Initiatives)
Password: 139975
Breakout:
RESTITUTION & CULTURE:
Recovering Our Heritage
ADA SALTER 1 & 2
The racism we continue to face today is rooted in enslavement and colonialism and so the issue of reparations impacts peoples of African descent no matter where they might find themselves. This panel will examine the issue of racism in the context of reparations, the work organisations are doing in this area, or should be doing, and offer suggestions for tangible change.
Chair: Onyekachi Wambu (AFFORD)
Akorfa Comfort Gakpa (GCEPRA) | Dr. Lennon Mhishi (Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford) | Connie Bell (Decolonising the Archive) | Rudo Sithole (African Museums & Heritage Restitution) | Elsie Owusu OBE RA (Architect & Principal) | Boucka Koffi (Akwansranimdie Communiversity)
Password: 052103
Breakout:
THE LAW & REPARATIVE JUSTICE
Legal Pathways to Repairing Injustice
BENJAMIN LAY 3
The panel will delve into the policies and governance structures that permitted and, in many cases, encouraged the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people. The legislation that allowed for the enslavers to be compensated and not the enslaved. Moreover, the panel will emphasise the legal case for reparations and that the journey towards reparative justice must also be anchored in the legal domain.
Chair: Esther Xosei (Executive Director, Maangamizi Educational Trust)
Jacqueline McKenzie (Leigh Day) | Harj Narulla (Doughty Street Chambers) | Gretchen Rohr (Strategic Litigation Officer, Open Society Foundations) | Corinne Elle (PARISC) | Clive Baldwin (Senior Legal Advisor, Human Rights Watch)
Password: 148854
Breakout:
REPARATORY JUSTICE & CLIMATE EQUITY
Addressing Historical Injustices for a Sustainable Future
GEORGE BRADSHAW
Achieving environmental justice is not just a matter of mitigating the climate crisis; it is also about addressing the historical injustices that continue to hinder the efforts of nations most affected by climate change. This panel will discuss how we can level the playing field when dealing with the climate emergency and how reparatory justice and environmental justice go hand-in-hand.
Chair: Marina Xochitl (Planet Repairs Internationalist Observatory)
Rebecca Walker-Woo (Climate Justice Lead, Quakers in Britain) | Dr. Gail Bradbrook (Co-Founder, Extinction Rebellion) | Kofi Klu (PANAFRIINDABA) | Tyrone Scott (Greens of Colour) | Calet Pena (Somos Semillas, Colombia)
Breakout:
RACIAL JUSTICE
The Role of Reparations in Building a Just Society
SARAH FELL
The racism we continue to face today is rooted in enslavement and colonialism and so the issue of reparations impacts peoples of African descent no matter where they might find themselves. This panel will examine the issue of racism in the context of reparations, the work organisations are doing in this area, or should be doing, and offer suggestions for tangible change.
Chair: Jerome Bond (Leigh Day)
Dawn Butler MP (APPG Afrikan Reparations)| Graham Campbell (Scottish National Party) | Mel Mullings (Assistant Secretary, RMT Black Solidarity Committee) | Jacqueline Burnett (Labour Councillor, Chair of APSE) | Cllr Scott Ainslie (Lambeth Green Party Councillor)
Breakout:
EDUCATING FOR REPARATIONS
Addressing Historical Gaps and Advancing Pan-Afrikan Perspectives
BENJAMIN LAY 1 & 2
Education acts as both a remedy for ignorance and a driving force for liberation, providing a deeper insight into the reparations movement. This session will address the lack of information and education about enslavement and colonialism and off suggestions for the policy changes we need to see to rectify this.
Chair: Marcy Abla Marie Ecoue (NJIAPANDA Network)
Dr. Malik Al Nasir (Author, Poet, Academic) | Lisa Anderson (Managing Director, Black Cultural Archives) | Kayne Kawasaki (Historian and Cultural Theorist) | Robin Walker ("The Black History Man", Author and Educator) | Abel Harvie-Clark (Co-president of Democracy and Education, SOAS University) | Lavinya Stennet (Founder and CEO The Black Curriculum)
Breakout:
DECOLONISING FAITH INSTITUTIONS & NGOs
Acknowledging Historical Ties and Promoting Meaningful Redress
HILDA CLARK
The panel examines how the church and the international development are facing up to the moral challenge of acknowledging their roles in the Transatlantic slave trade and colonisation. This discussion aims to shed light on the complexities of confronting historical injustices within both religious institutions and the aid sector, and offer policy suggestions on how to address this.
Chair: Anne McLaughlin, Scottish National Party
Paul Whitehouse (Quakers in Britain) | Tatianna Ennin (Christian Aid) | Bevan Powell (Director of Inclusion, Methodist Church) | Charmaine Simpson (Church Commisioners for England) | Dr Tobias Müller (Cambridge University, CRASSH) | Sheeba Levi-Stewart (Global Afrikan Congress, Ethiopian World Federation)
15:30- 15:45 - BREAK
15:45 - 16:30 - CLOSING PLENARY - ‘Reflections and Resolutions: Charting a Pathway to Reparatory Justice’
Chairs: Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (Chair, APPG for Afrikan Reparations) &
Onyekachi Wambu (AFFORD)
Dr. Julius Garvey
Professor Augustine ‘Gus’ John (Equity and human rights campaigner)
Esther Xosei (Executive Director, Maangamizi Educational Trust)
Laura Kotzur (Doctoral Student and Research Fellow Free University of Berlin)
Kofi Klu (Chief Executive Commissioner at PANAFRIINDABA)
Rita Remi-Judah (Co-Clerk, Quakers Reparations Working Group)
Password: 139975
16:30 - 16:45 - STATEMENTS/ACTION
16:45 - 17:00 - CLOSE