One St. Martin Association President Rhoda Arrindell at the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum for People of African Descent (PFPAD) meeting in Barbados.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--The One St. Martin Association (One SXM) participated in the consultation of the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum for People of African Descent (PFPAD) in Barbados on December 12.
The meeting focused on the draft declaration on the human rights of people of African descent.
“It was a packed and impactful day of discussions,” said Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, President of One St. Martin Association.
The meeting marked the first public consultation on the draft declaration, according to PFPAD chairperson June Soomer.
In her opening address, Soomer acknowledged attendees who have been laying the groundwork for decades. These included Barbados’ Ambassador to the Caribbean Community CARICOM David Comissiong and former Vice President of Costa Rica Epsy Campbell Barr.
Campbell Barr, PFPAD’s chairperson during its 2022-2024 term, urged participants to consider land rights and “all the issues of reparations” in their deliberations.
Pastor Elías Murillo Martinez, a Colombian lawyer and PFPAD member, said the declaration would be the first universal instrument to consolidate the individual and collective human rights of people of African descent.
The issues the delegates worked on were grouped under four themes: Recognising and addressing systemic and structural racism; reparatory justice for histories and legacies of colonialism, enslavement, apartheid and genocide; collective rights for people of African descent, as distinct peoples with their own cultural, historical, and social identities; and sustainable development and increasing equality within and among countries.
Dr. Arrindell said she reminded attendees to consider the “human rights violations of still-colonised peoples in the Caribbean.”
“What also stood out for me was the emphasis on declaring that we are … a people, and the insistence on the respect, protection, and full rights of people of African descent worldwide,” said Arrindell. “The PFPAD invitation extended to the One St. Martin Association allows a St. Martin voice to participate in this important global conversation and enables St. Martin people and organisations to be part of ongoing actions and the related evolving changes that will occur over time.”
