African Union Consultative Meeting on Reparatory Justice and Racial Healing

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

What: The African Union (AU) is organising a consultative meeting on the theme “Faith Perspectives on Reparatory Justice and Racial Healing”, at the margins of the the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, ( April 14 - 18 2025).

When:            15 April 2025

Time:             11:00 – 12:30hrs

Where:          Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations, New York, USA.

Who:              The Side Event is jointly convened by the African Union Citizens Directorate, and All African Conference of Churches.

Purpose

The side event aims to address the complexities and explore strategies to harness the positive influence faith leaders for democratic advancement.

Objectives : The Objectives of this meeting are:

• Begin a process of establishing consensus within the African church around reparative justice and create alignment across denominations, regions, and globally. 
• Amplify the prophetic voice of the Church in discourse on reparative justice and leverage its influence and reparative theology to advance moral advocacy that cuts across social cleavages. 
• Deepen partnership between Christian Aid, AACC and its members and partners with the African Union to forge practical pathways for reparative justice. 
• Propose actionable steps for incorporating reparations into AU flagship programs and policies. 

Expected Outcomes

• Participation and influence of the global church in discourse on reparatory justice, from a faith-based perspective. 
• Strengthened relationships and collaboration between African Union, civil society and faith-based organisations, around issues of reparative justice. 
• Thematic recommendations and action points for the Church, in collaboration with civil society and policymakers to take forward, at local, regional and global levels. 
• Increased awareness and deeper understanding of the political economy of reparative justice/reparations for Africa.
• Enhanced advocacy arguments/positions on reparations for Africa and peoples of African descent. 
• Recommendations by Faith Actors to the African Union Heads of State on development and development finance proposals which should be tabled at regional and global forums such as the G20, FfD4, the World Bank and IMF Spring and Annual Meetings, BRICS and COP30. 

Thematic Areas:

• Climate finance; climate finance as reparations, historical emissions and disproportionate effect on Africa and the Caribbean. 
• Economic justice: debt relief and cancellation, reparations for legacy of slave-trade and colonialism, wealth redistribution and reform of global economic architecture. 
• Gender justice; intersection of gender and reparations, exploring the impact of the slave-trade and colonialism on women and other marginalized groups.  
• Biblical theology of reparations; making a case for reparations Historical perspectives of reparations: interrogating history of exploitation and trauma against African people and people of African descent and reparatory justice responses.  

Participants

The side event will bring together representatives from faith-based organizations, civil society and policymakers to engage the United Nations on the side lines of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and contribute to the formation of a united framework for advancing reparative justice, globally.

Background:

Founded in 1963, the All Africa Conference of Churches is a continental ecumenical body that accounts for over 200 million Christians across the continent. AACC is the largest association of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Indigenous churches in Africa and is a member of the worldwide ecumenical network. AACC is a fellowship of 210 members comprising of Churches, National Councils of Churches (NCCs), theological and lay training institutions and other Christian organizations in 43 countries.

AACC Liaison office to the African Union amplifies the voices of Churches and Civil Society at the African Union level. The Liaison office to the African Union is currently implementing a 3-year project (Salama Hub Phase Two) “Transforming Lives in the East and Horn of Africa Region through Evidence-based advocacy by campaigning for peaceful change”. This project intends to bring together Faith Based organizations, Civil society institutions, Human rights institutions to advocate for peace and stability in the region.

The Civil Society and Diaspora Directorate (AUC-CIDO) within the African Union Commission founded the African Union Interfaith Dialogue Forum (AU-IFDF) in 2010 to promote interreligious dialogue to build peace and enhance social cohesion in Africa.

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For more information, please contact:

Ms. Hazel Maureen Danetta Dixon I Regional Desk Officer I Citizens and Diaspora Directorate I African Union Commission I Email: dixonh@africa-union.org

Mr. Justice Oman I Program Executive I Liaison Office All Africa Conference of Churches I Addis Ababa I Email:justiceoman@aacc-ceta.org I+251 113 85 1158

For media inquiries and interviews please contact:

Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou | Head, Media and Information Division, Communication Adviser, Permanent Observer Mission of the AU to the UN | Information and Communications Directorate | E-mail: yamboue@africa-uinon.org, Tel: +251911361185 / +1 3478127195 (WhatsApp);

Mr. Molalet TsedekeI Communication Officer I Information and Communication Directorate I African Union Commission I Email: Molalett@africa-union.org I Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Web: www.au.int | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube