The Chairman of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), Shaikh Moeenul Hack told the United Nations Forum on the People of African Descent that Africa and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are united in their calls for reparations. However, he said greater support is needed for justice to be achieved.

“It will take the support and will of all to truly achieve justice. Let’s use this moment, to expand the support for reparations underscoring that it is not about charity , it is about justice,” Hack said.

Speaking at the 3^rd Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Permanent Forum on the People of African Descent at the UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Hack said CARICOM’s 10 Point Plan for Reparatory Justice outlines tangible steps forward. Among others, it calls for investment in public systems to address the long-term effects of structural underdevelopment and urges education reform and cultural renewal.

The ERC Chairman said for its part, Guyana continues to call for reparatory justice.

“With a population comprising more than 30% of people of African Descent, Guyana continues to call for justice through reparations. Justice is accountability for centuries of slavery, exploitation, and the negative legacy of colonialism. Reparations is also about recognition of the pain, displacement, the generational trauma inflicted by slavery. It is also about healing and reconciliation, which formed the foundation for lasting peace,” he said.

Hack, who has come under fire for representing Afro-Guyanese at the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, said in Guyana, the ERC serves as a Constitutional body with a mandate to promote harmony, good relations among all ethnic groups, and to eliminate discrimination based on race, ethnicity, ancestry, colour and religion.

Its 10 commissioners, he explained, were democratically nominated by major constituency groups including Africans, Indian, Amerindian, Christians, Hindu, Muslim, Labour, Youth and Private Sector reflecting Guyana’s diverse social fabric.

Commissioner Norris Witter, he added, was part of the Guyana delegation to the forum, but at the last minute, indicated that he was unable to attend.

Witter told News Source that he declined the nomination on basis that it was reprehensible for the Chair of the ERC to lead the delegation, and secondly, out of concern that the Government was standing part of the cost for the ERC to attend the forum.

Here in Guyana, pockets of Afro-Guyanese have been objecting to Hack’s presence at the Forum, contending that the ERC delegation ought to have been led by an Afro-Guyanese, who should have been provided with the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Afro-Guyanese community.

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