‘Give us the money’: Aid as reparations | Rethinking Humanitarianism

The call for reparations, which has long reverberated in former colonies, is now gaining momentum in the aid and philanthropy sectors, too.

It’s a call that rejects the idea of aid as charitable giving, and instead reframes it as justice for the ravages of colonialism and imperialism.

But like similar conversations in the United States around slavery, the idea of international reparations for colonialism is a political hot potato. This, despite the many precedents for reparations programmes, including German reparations paid to Holocaust survivors.

Can international reparations be a way forward towards a more equitable world order, or are they too politically charged to succeed, perhaps even counter-productive?

To discuss these thorny questions, Rethinking Humanitarianism host Heba Aly is joined by Uzo Iweala, CEO of the Africa Center; Thomas Craemer, associate professor of public policy at University of Connecticut; and Kizito Byenkya, director of campaigns for the Open Society Foundations. 

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If you’ve got thoughts on this episode, write to us or send us a voice note at podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org. 

SHOW NOTES

• Loss and damage: Views from the ground at COP27
• Will countries hit by climate change finally get payouts at COP27?
• Why climate justice requires reparations
• Reparations as Philanthropy: Radically Rethinking 'Giving' in Africa | Le Monde
• Imperial Reckoning, The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
• The New Reparations Math | UConn Magazine