A Chronicle Conversation with Gaynel Curry

In April 2026, Ms. Gaynel Curry (Bahamas) was appointed as the Chair of the fifth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. With the Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) now underway, the UN Chronicle saw an opportunity to find out more about the Permanent Forum, the objectives of the Second International Decade, and how the international community is working to combat racism and dismantle structural inequalities within our societies. To those ends, we provided Ms. Curry with a series of questions, which form the basis for the interview below.

Interview

When and how was it determined that there needed to be a Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) immediately following the first International Decade (2015–2024)?

In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 68/237 proclaiming the International Decade for People of African Descent, to be observed from 2015 to 2024 and based on the pillars of recognition, justice and development. Shortly thereafter, the Assembly endorsed a programme of activities intended to turn ambition into action.

The establishment of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent by the Assembly in resolution 75/314 was a notable success among the actions taken. Created in 2021 as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent, and as an advisory body to the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Forum was mandated, inter alia, to monitor and review progress on the implementation of the programme of activities of the International Decade.

In 2024, the United Nations Secretary-General, in his final report on the International Decade, stated that implementation had been uneven between regions and countries, and no country had fully implemented the objectives of the International Decade.

Against these shortcomings, the Permanent Forum, jointly with United Nations Human Rights anti-racism mechanisms, requested States to proclaim a Second International Decade. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, acting as the Coordinator of the International Decade, also called for the need to build on the momentum of the last ten years by proclaiming a Second International Decade. Advocacy efforts supported the need for greater recognition of systemic and structural racism, and racial discrimination within and among countries; the pursuit of reparatory justice and greater efforts for the inclusion of people of African descent; and racial equality in all development frameworks.

In December 2024, the General Assembly adopted resolution 79/193, and proclaimed the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. Its immediate adoption reflected the urgency of addressing human rights concerns of people of African descent, and the recognition that momentum could not be lost between the two International Decades.

One of the priorities of the Second International Decade is recognition. For people of African descent, what would be the constructive effect of gaining broad, public recognition of the toll of racism and acknowledgement of how the crimes of the past continue to affect people today?

According to the programme of activities, recognition encompasses the right to equality and non-discrimination; education on equality and awareness-raising; information gathering, which includes the production of disaggregated data; and participation and inclusion. Yet, to be truly transformative, recognition must go beyond acknowledging the presence, histories, and cultures of people of African descent within and among countries.

The Second International Decade needs to strengthen this pillar by explicitly recognizing the systemic and structural racism faced by people of African descent within and among countries. This type of recognition is essential to moving away from the culture of denial surrounding racism; to reframe inequality as the outcome of historical injustices rather than as an accidental anomaly of societies or as isolated incidents; and in doing so, to establish the baseline upon which meaningful actions can be built to dismantle structures and systems designed and shaped by enslavement, colonialism and successive racially discriminatory policies.

Additionally, recognition entails affirming that people of African descent sometimes constitute peoples with collective identities, historical continuity, cultural systems and territorial ties that predate the formation of modern nation States. Their presence is not the result of voluntary migration but of forced displacement through enslavement, followed by centuries of resistance, survival and collective organization. Despite this reality, people of African descent have been systematically denied recognition as collective subjects of rights under international law, thus obscuring the collective dimensions of racial injustice and limited access to effective remedies. Ultimately, recognition is not an end in itself but a catalyst for the cohesive actions needed to achieve lasting systemic change. The Second International Decade also needs to look at new and emerging concerns for people of African descent, including climate justice, artificial intelligence and digital justice, among other issues.

There is a growing diasporic movement in support of the concept of reparations to address the catastrophic impacts of the trafficking and chattel enslavement of African people. What do you think reparations should entail?

Reparations should be understood as a comprehensive framework for justice grounded in the principles of restitution aimed at restoring the victim to the original situation; compensation for economically assessable damage; rehabilitation through medical, psychological, legal and social support; satisfaction through formal apologies, truth-telling, commemorations and public recognition; and guarantees of non-repetition through legal, institutional and educational reforms. Central to these principles is the right of people of African descent to effective, meaningful, safe and equal participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of this framework.

In practice, reparations for enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, apartheid and colonialism require a multidimensional approach consistent with the analysis and recommendations of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, other United Nations anti-racism mechanisms and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Restitution includes measures such as the restitution of stolen lands and resources but also the restitution of cultural artefacts and human remains taken during enslavement and the colonial period.

Compensation would include financial payment for the economically assessable damage, including that which was demanded and taken following wars for freedom from enslavement and independence; and for the physical or mental harm, lost opportunities, material damages, loss of earnings, and moral damages. It entails redress for economic dispossession and targeted investment to close persistent racialized inequalities in housing, land ownership, education, employment and health, among other areas.

Rehabilitation would entail dedicated institutional responses, for example, accessible and culturally appropriate medical, psychological and social services to deal with intergenerational trauma and ongoing harms linked to enslavement and systemic racism. Satisfaction measures come in the form of formal apologies by States and institutions (private and public) that participated in or benefited from enslavement and colonial systems, alongside educational reforms that would ensure that the history and contemporary realities of Africans and people of African descent are accurately and fully reflected in curricula at all levels of the educational system.

Finally, guarantees of non-repetition require systemic transformation, such as abolishing any residual laws from the colonial era and ensuring equitable representation of Africans and people of African descent in global governance.

The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent is an effective platform for dialogue, norm-setting and awareness-raising, but how can it become a stronger catalyst for advancing and fulfilling the human rights of people of African descent?

The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent needs a decisive strengthening of its institutional capacity and mandate commensurate with the urgency and scale of its mission.

We need to ensure that the Permanent Forum is not confined to dialogue spaces but is fully integrated into major decision-making processes at both international and regional levels so that the lived realities, priorities and experiences of people of African descent actively shape global policy agendas. In this regard, strengthening its role as a bridge between global institutions and regional actors is essential, including in advancing South–South cooperation and shared approaches to justice and development.

The Permanent Forum is situated within the United Nations anti-racism architecture and it continues to collaborate and coordinate with the human rights anti-racism mechanisms. It has been active in the intergovernmental process for the elaboration of a United Nations declaration on the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of people of African descent. To inform its contributions, the Permanent Forum is undertaking a progressive consultation process with civil society from all regions in the world to ensure that their voices, priorities and aspirations are fully reflected.

A stronger catalytic role also requires expanding access to and participation in the work of the Permanent Forum. Resources must be specifically allocated to ensure equitable engagement, particularly for youth of African descent.

Last but not least, the capacity and the mandate of the Permanent Forum must be strengthened to allow for the advancement of reparatory justice within the follow-up to the 2021 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; for further engagement with United Nations entities on the urgent need for data; and to systematically monitor, follow and transparently report on the implementation of Permanent Forum recommendations. This entails ensuring adequate, sustained and predictable funding for both the Forum and its secretariat.

Within the international community, what is the most promising work being done to offset the systemic and structural inequalities affecting people of African descent in terms of access to economic resources and opportunities?

United Nations human rights and anti-racism mechanisms have played a critical role in documenting how systemic racism shapes unequal access to economic resources and opportunities, and act as a structural determinant to economic justice and development outcomes. Building on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – of which we are commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary this year – we are advocating, inter alia, for special measures in employment, land, credit and participation; and for the incorporation of a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal 18 on racial equality within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We were pleased when coordinated advocacy, including the involvement of Permanent Forum representatives at the sixteenth (2024) meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, led to the recognition, for the first time, of the explicit role of people of African descent in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, providing economic opportunities and empowerment for those communities. The growing focus on climate and environmental justice represents a critical dimension of economic equity.

At the regional level, the African Union (AU) has elevated reparatory justice on the global stage with the designation of 2025 as the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”, and by designating 2026–2036 as the AU Decade on Reparations. The Caribbean Community has developed a Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice explicitly linking historical injustices to present-day economic exclusion.

Many States have also undertaken a variety of actions, such as the development and adoption of legislative measures to combat racism. These include national action plans, monitoring bodies and complaint mechanisms, as well as educational and awareness-raising programmes, capacity-building activities, and research and data collection measures. Taken together, these efforts reflect a promising shift of the structures that continue to produce inequality.

Regarding youth of African descent, what do you think about their attitudes towards contemporary forms of racial discrimination and what have you learned from young people about living with the legacies of historical injustices?

Many young people articulate a sophisticated understanding of how racism operates across institutions and a strong insistence that solutions must be equally systemic.

One of the clearest insights emerging from engagement with youth is the centrality of education as both a site of exclusion and a space for transformation. Young people consistently point to unequal access to quality education, Eurocentric curricula and colonial narratives that erase or distort their histories. At the same time, they emphasize that education, when inclusive and grounded in human rights, can be a powerful tool for restoring dignity, strengthening identity and enabling leadership. What they demand is not only access, but relevance and truth.

Youth of African descent also highlight the contradiction between their potential and the opportunities available to them. Despite high levels of talent, creativity and qualification, many face persistent unemployment; concentration in informal or precarious labour; and exclusion from capital, innovation ecosystems and emerging sectors. They interpret this not as a failure of individuals, but as evidence of structural barriers that continue to limit their economic mobility.

Another consistent message from youth is the experience of overexposure to violence and under-protection by institutions. Many describe patterns of criminalization, profiling and neglect as the result of policy choices rather than isolated incidents. This has contributed to a profound questioning of trust in public institutions alongside a strong demand for accountability and reform.

Our youth are not content with symbolic inclusion. They call for meaningful and active participation in decision-making processes, where their perspectives shape policies rather than merely being consulted. They stress the importance of visibility – being counted in data, represented in narratives and recognized in policymaking – as a prerequisite for justice.

What we learn from youth of African descent is sobering: there is a generation ready to confront, with clarity, innovation and resolve, the injustices that we have been going through. The responsibility of the international community is to match their demands with action, ensuring that youth are not only heard, but empowered as agents of structural change.

What keeps you personally motivated, particularly during times like these, when the struggle against racial discrimination is more openly challenged?

I have a clear understanding that this work is part of a much longer continuum. Professor Hilary Beckles has often stated that the nineteenth century was about emancipation, the twentieth century was about independence, and therefore the twenty-first century should be for the attainment of reparatory justice. The progress achieved to date has been the result of generations who refused to accept injustice, I see it as my role to ensure that this work is taken to the next level.