Location: Blue Gallery, New York, USA
Organizer: Swiss African Diaspora Council / Trust Africa Foundation / Africa Foundation
For migration and development
Title: Museum Africa / Theme: Africa’s compensation justice through compensation
This side event, in the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on African Descent, served as a powerful platform for regaining identity, defending compensatory justice, and interrogating the legacy of colonialism and transatlantic slavery. Prominent voices from the African Union, diaspora communities, media, culture and development institutions underscored the urgent need to return looted African artifacts and address historical injustice that continues to shape today’s global inequality. The main themes addressed included the spiritual importance of the looted objects, the need for a policy framework across the African continent, and the hypocrisy of the former colonial powers that sacred artifacts attempt to “lending” to legitimate owners. Speakers of the African Union, speakers from the Consulate General of Nigeria in New York, Senegal, Dakar, Dakar, Institute of Educational Artists (TAI), Baltimore, and the Council of Diaspora in Africa (ADCS) have been replaced to address this important topic. Fascinated by renowned Washington Post journalists, the event attracted several participants from the United Nations PFPAD, international organizations, policymakers, the public and private sector, academies and civil society. The AU’s progress and model partnership with Nigeria’s Germany, the progress in Switzerland, others have raised attention to the inadequacy of mere declarations without meaningful compensation, and the need to expand the conversation to track and recover illegal financial flows from Africa. The dialogue emphasizes that Africa’s dignity cannot be negotiated. Our identity is not a museum relic, but a living breathing power that we must return and recover.
Recommendations:
Advocacy Space: The dialogue argues that future meetings addressing Africa’s reparations and justice, the permanent forum itself, should also be held in African soil. Continuing participation in the international fora outside the continental region has inadvertently redirected African wealth and labor towards the non-African economy, thereby conquering African descendants into a perennial condescending visa process. African Union seats Addis Ababa, Nairobi, the UN’s regional headquarters for Africa, as well as other African, Caribbean and Latin American countries are all eligible to host PFPAD. Overall Compensation Justice: Reparation needs to extend beyond looted artifacts to the entire cultural heritage. They must advocate for justice in ruined landscapes, dismantled infrastructure, and cultural erase, and restore illegal financial flows. The return of looted objects must not be negotiated under a “loan agreement.” Models like the Nigerian and German compensation framework should be expanded and adopted throughout Europe. Immediate debt reassessment: It is a serious shaming, scandalous and historical irony that formerly colonial states (such as Haiti) are expected to pay for previous colonial powers for the infrastructure left behind “earned independence” or leftover. These infrastructures were built for exploitation along with the free labor of the colonized people. It’s not empowerment! Africa’s historic debt must be revalued and lending obligations must be withdrawn to perpetuate colonial control in a financial way. Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
Conclusion:
The appeal from the organizers is clear. Africa calls for justice not as a plea, but as a right. Restoring cultural heritage must cooperate with systematic economic relief. True reconciliation is impossible unless the plundered and broken thing is completely restored. Africa is not only a museum, but a museum. Now let us restore that wall, its spirit, and its voice.
Preparation: Myron Oyinkansola Sotunde-Adesina
International Civil Society Working Group (ICSWG UNPFPAD) Youth Subcommittee for the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent – Regional-led Italy
