Reparations as a pathway to decolonisation

May 2023

Briefing: The legacies of European colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade created deeply ingrained systemic injustices that continue to devastate the lives of billions of people around the world. Yet as international development organisations start to interrogate and apply the concept of ‘decolonisation’, there is a real danger the term becomes a meaningless buzzword.

This briefing explores different ‘reparations approaches’ and their value in ensuring transformative responses where former colonisers acknowledge, remedy and redress the legacies of European colonialism and slavery. With acknowledgement and apology as first steps, it highlights the need then not just for financial compensation but also for transformation of the global structures and paradigms that perpetuate injustice. While the exact nature of reparations must be rooted in the demands of those most harmed, the briefing concludes that international development organisations must create political and analytical space for reparations approaches as part of their decolonisation efforts.