Barbados hosts First Global Dialogue in Bridgetown
Barbados Prime Minister invites peoples across the African Diaspora to engage in its first Global Dialogue
From the 23rd to 31st August 2007, all interested persons across the African continent and its Disapora are invited to join in the Global Dialogue in Bridgetown, Barbados to discuss issues arising of out the trade in enslaved Africans and to create sustainable partnerships for Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas.
BARBABOS HOSTS FIRST GLOBAL DIALOGUE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE AFRICAN UNION AND CARICOM AS PART OF BICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS TO MARK THE 200th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ACT IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE
From the 23rd to 31st August 2007, all interested persons across the African continent and its Disapora are invited to join in the Global Dialogue in Bridgetown, Barbados to discuss issues arising of out the trade in enslaved Africans and to create sustainable partnerships for Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas.
The theme is:
BICENTENNIAL GLOBAL DIALOGUE: FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE DIALOGUE WITH AFRICA AND ITS DIASPORA – THE CASE OF THE CARIBBEAN” Revisiting the Triangle – Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas: Towards A New Understanding for Shared Development
The Rt Hon Owen Arthur, Prime Minister for Barbados, who holds the joint portfolios of Minister of Culture and Minister of Finance in his administration, has linked with the African Union (AU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to create a dynamic meeting of minds across the”Black” Atlantic that will address the related themes of the Slave Trade, Slavery, Abolition, Reparation, Reconciliation, Regional Integration, Democratic Governance and Pan-African Unity at the forthcoming “Bicentennial Global Dialogue.” The overall discourse is aimed at producing significant outcomes. During the course of the week-long events there will be opportunities to analyse, promote and celebrate the important economic, social and political contributions from African and Caribbean countries linked historically by the infamous trade in Africans of which tiny Barbados was the main trans-shipment point. This, in turn, will open a pathway to discuss reparation and restoration issues impacting the global black community.
One of the main messages from the Commission for Pan African Affairs (CPAA) and the Prime Minister’s Office states: “The overall purpose of the Bridgetown conference is to revisit the triangular trade of the slave era so as to make another significant step towards bringing closure to the lingering legacy of racism and underdevelopment across the Pan-African world. To do this, it is imperative that, from a background of many different spiritual traditions and intellectual views, we create – systematically and in very concrete terms – a new understanding of shared and sustainable development between Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. Equally important to the Dialogue is the African Union’s agenda for consultation with its Caribbean Diaspora as that organization prepares for its 2008 Summit on Africa and the Diaspora.”
The CPAA is a government agency that has been mandated to address and rectify the deficiency in Barbadian institutions and national life which is manifested in the relative dearth of relationships, exchanges and interactions with the nations, population groups and institutions of the continent of Africa and the world-wide African Diaspora.
Jointly organised by the CPAA and the AU, this Global Dialogue represents the first time in Barbados’ history that such a gathering has been achieved. The discourse from the platform will be shared with a multi-national audience incorporating at least 15 countries from Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe and Great Britain. Invited guest speakers include established and recognised beacons of social justice such as President Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), George Galloway MP (Great Britain), Hon. Ambassador Dudley Thompson of the Eminent Persons Committee on Reparations set up by the former Organization of African Unity (Jamaica), Professor Hilary Beckles, Principal of the Chair, National of the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus (Barbados) and Fred Oladeinde, President, Foundation for Democracy in Africa (Washington, DC).
There are eight distinct elements to the Global Dialogue:-
– International Conference at the Hilton Conference Centre, providing a forum for leading international spokespersons to chart a path towards reconciliation with justice.
– Film Festival, African CineFest Barbados, exploring themes, images and cinematic techniques through the work of African and Diasporic filmmakers.
– Cultural Expo featuring a trilogy of cultural shows with internationally acclaimed black artistes; an exhibition of visual arts from the continent and the Diaspora; a book fair; and a craft bazaar (incorporating an authentic “Wallo Village” from Senegal). The objective of the Wallo Village is to exhibit a large range of Senegalese products for export to the local market but more importantly to facilitate cultural exchanges and establish business links between Africa and the Caribbean.
– Business Confab aimed at the funding and mentoring of strategic large-scale developmental projects for the Black World.
– Investors’ Cafe bringing together business persons from across the globe.
– Walter Rodney Foundation — the setting up of a Barbadian youth chapter of the Walter Rodney Foundation.
– African Century Think – Tank Launch with responsibility for monitoring the above developmental projects over the next three years, especially the proposed Centre for Multi-Ethnic Studies.
– African Union’s Regional Consultative Process focusing on Caribbean – Africa issues, leading up to the Summit in South Africa in 2008.
All main conference events will take place at the Hilton Hotel’s Conference Centre, Bridgetown, Barbados, with nearby locations hosting the cultural arts display and film festival. There are several partners including the CPAA, the AU, the Government of South Africa and CARICOM, as well as the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull (UK).
To ensure that it is easily accessible to a wider audience the Global Summit costs only BD $550 (circa £135) for the full week-long package which includes the conference and major cultural events (excluding flights and accommodation charges). Visit www.globaldialogue2007.org for more details.