In February 2025, the African Union (AU) convened its annual summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and IJR convened a series of interventions relating to the theme of the year which is: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.

At the Thirty-Sixth Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held between 18^th to 19^th February 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a landmark decision was taken by the Union towards “building a united front to advance the cause of justice and the payment of reparations to Africans.”[1] The AU Assembly directed the “AU Commission, in consultation with Member States, ECOSOCC and other AU organs as well as the RECs to … develop a Common African Position on Reparations.”[2]

On 13^th February 2025, at the margins of the 38^th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the IJR, in partnership with the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Amani Africa Media and Research Services and the African Union Network of Think-Tanks for Peace (NETT4Peace), both based in Addis Ababa jointly convened a Diplomatic Briefing on the “African Union Common Position on Reparations: Strategies for Policy Implementation.” The Briefing brought together more than 40 participants including a number of AU ambassadors, AU officials, analysts, academics, civil society practitioners and created a platform for an exchange of policy ideas on the prospective adoption of the African Common Position on Reparations and assess the practical pathways for its implementation. The meeting highlighted why the issue of reparations was relevant and important to the African continent and contributed towards the capacitation and sensitize African diplomats and partners to engage with the prospective AU Common Position on Reparations for African and People of African Descent. The meeting also referenced the provisions of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) which provide guidelines on reparations and redistributive justice.

At the Opening Ceremony of the 38^th Session of the AU Assembly, Prime Minister Mia Motley, of Barbados, and the current Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) gave a rousing speech to African leaders in which she stated that:

“And the reparations, which we call for the International Community is to be able to recognize first and foremost that which we ask from each of our children: Say sorry, say sorry and mean it. And after you say sorry recognize that the future of the world is not possible without the stability of Africa and its diaspora. For as long as hypocrisy and double standards remain, it will be impossible to secure stability and peace in any Nation across the Earth. The operations that we call for beyond Sorry, must be for fair access and development and compensation because we each started the Journey of independence with a chronic deficit, a deficit of resources, a deficit of fairness, a deficit of opportunity. And it is up to many of us in the second and third generation of independence, to be able to frame out fairly in a mature conversation, what those reparations must look like, if we are to attain Justice and to inspire the young people of this world that good must always prevail over evil.”

Subsequently, on 14^th February 2025, the IJR in collaboration with the AU Economic, Cultural and Social Council (ECOSOCC), and a number of partners, co-convened a “High-Level Diplomatic Briefing on the UN Security Council Reform through UN Charter Review and Article 109: Restitution for Africa’s Historical Exclusion” at the margins of the African Union 38th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting featured a keynote address from Ambassador Churchill Ewumbue, Monono, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cameroon to the African Union and the Head of the AU ECOSOCC Secretariat, Mr. William Carew. Amb. Ewumbue-Monono called for a coalition of African countries to coordinate the drafting of a UN General Assembly Resolution to invoke Article 109 of the UN Charter as well as to generate support from the Member States of the African Union and diplomatic delegations from Asia and Latin America. The meeting discussed Africa’s 20-year appeal for UN Security Council reform, since the adoption of the AU Ezulwini Consensus, and proactively called for a commitment from African governments, and delegations from Asia and Latin America to form a coalition aimed at drafting and supporting a UN General Assembly resolution to invoke Article 109.

IJR’s interventions at the Margins of the African Union Summit noted that the effective implementation of reparation measures for people of African descent will require proactive effective and efficient cooperation and the establishment of partnerships between a cross-section of global, continental, national and societal actors. These actors will include African Union Member States, AU system of agencies and bodies, international inter-governmental institutions, global and continental corporations, civil society, social movements, academic and research institutions, and the media from across Africa and regions of the world where there are people of African descent. In this regard, mobilizing and sustaining continental and international cooperation and political will be a key pillar of pursuing and achieving the reparations for people of African descent.

[1] African Union, Decisions, Declarations, Resolution and Motion, Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, 36^th Ordinary Session, Assembly/AU/Dec.847 (XXXVI), 18 to 19 February 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, p.1.

[2] African Union, Decisions, Declarations, Resolution and Motion, Assembly/AU/Dec.847 (XXXVI), p.1.

Tim Murithi, Head, IJR Peacebuilding Interventions Programme