Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 16:47:29 +0000
From: "Cudjoe B" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Birth Of The African Diaspora Civil Society
PRESS RELEASE
Birth Of The African Diaspora Civil Society
Network Of The Caribbean
A new chapter in the relationship between the African peoples of the
Caribbean and the continent of Africa was opened on the 12th of September
2004, with the creation - in Bridgetown, Barbadosâ of an African Diaspora
Civil Society Network Of The Caribbean.
This newly established Pan-Caribbean network of Pan-Africanist organisations
will be the critical and indispensable mechanism that allows the Caribbean
people and their civil society organizations to participate in the
institutional structures of the continent- wide, 53 nation, African Union
(A.U.)
Ever since the 1963 genesis of the Organisation of African Unity (O.A.U.) --
Africaâs first continental organisation of sovereign states â
Pan-Africanists all over the âBlack Worldâ have clamoured for the day when
the nations of the African continent would collectively acknowledge the
historical necessity of integrating the African Diaspora into the major
formal institutions of the continent.
Well, that day has finally arrived!
The African Union â the new continent-wide coalition of nations that has
replaced the now defunct O.A.U. â has not only launched a systematic
âDiaspora Initiativeâ, but has reserved a significant number of places for
representatives of the Diaspora in such organisations of the A.U. as the
Economic Cultural And Social Council (ECOSOCC) and the Civil Society Forum.
The places reserved for the Diaspora will be taken up by representatives
emerging from Pan-Africanist networks of the various geographical regions of
the African Diaspora.
It was these historic developments that motivated two of the Caribbeanâs
leading Pan-Africanist organizations â the Clement Payne Movement of
Barbados and the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad & Tobago â to
summon a major convocation of Pan-Africanists from the English, French,
Dutch and Spanish speaking Caribbean, in order to set Caribbean Civil
Society on a path of institutionalized engagement with the African
continent.
Pan-Africanists representing the 15 Caribbean states of St. Lucia, Puerto
Rico, Guyana, Suriname, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Barbados, Dominica,
U.S. Virgin Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, Montserrat, Anguilla,
Antigua & Barbuda, Haiti and Netherlands Antilles, gathered in Bridgetown,
Barbados over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of September 2004 for an
historic meeting at the offices of the Barbados Governmentâs âCommission For
Pan-African Affairsâ. Unfortunately the rampage of Hurricane Ivan through
the Caribbean prevented the attendance of representatives of Grenada,
Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas.
Also in attendance were Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Senior Coordinator of the Bureau of
the African Union, and Ms Fay Housty, Director of Foreign Policy and
External Economic Relations of the CARICOM Secretariat, in the role of
observers and resource persons.
The meeting culminated with the formal establishment of a Caribbean
Pan-African Network comprised of some 23 organisations from 15 different
Caribbean states.
The newly established Network will be serviced by a Secretariat located at
the offices of the Emancipation Support Committee in Trinidad & Tobago, and
will be managed by a 10 member interim Executive Committee comprised as
follows:-
Chedmond Browne (Montserrat); Nadia Raveles (Suriname); Gene Emmanuel (U.S.
Virgin Islands); Joceline Clemencia (Netherlands Antilles); Lucie Tondreau
(Haiti); Marta Johnson (Costa Rica); Ijahnya Christian (The Rastafari
Nation); Khafra Kambon (Trinidad & Tobago); David Comissiong (Barbados); and
Carl Lee Best (Youth Representative).
Although a fundamental focus of the work of the Network will be to develop
an agenda for Caribbean Civil Society engagement with the A.U., and to
provide Caribbean representatives for the relevant organs of the A.U., the
Networkâs mandate extends beyond institutional engagement with the A.U., and
goes into the realm of fostering people based empowerment and development
throughout the âAfrican Worldâ.
Indeed, this is reflected in the âMission Statementâ which the Network has
adopted and which reads as follows:-
âTo develop and expand cooperation between Pan-Africanist formations in the
Caribbean region; to work with other regional Pan-African networks; and to
engage in a formal institutional relationship with the âAfrican Unionâ, in
pursuit of the goal of empowering, developing and integrating the African
peoples of the continent and the Diasporaâ.
To these ends, the Network has already established three sub-committees that
have been mandated to develop and carry forward a number of specific
developmental projects. These sub-committees are the âCommunications and
Education Committeeâ, the âTrade Travel And Investment Committeeâ, and the
âRepatriation Census Committeeâ.
Individual members of the Network have been charged with the responsibility
of going back to their home territories, and identifying all other relevant
organizations that would qualify for membership of the Network.
All Caribbean Civil Society organisations that are interested in
contributing to this historic project, may contact the Network at its
Trinidad based Secretariat â Emancipation Support Committee, 5B Bergerac
Road, Maraval, Trinidad (Fax 868-633-9235).
âââââââââ..
David A. Comissiong
Member of the Interim Executive Committee
Of The Caribbean Pan-African Network
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