Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research

(From Left) Professor Dale Webber, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, The UWI Mona Campus; Professor Verene Shepherd, Director, Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI; Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The UWI; Dr. David Duncan, Chief Operating Officer & University Secretary, University of Glasgow; Mr Peter Aitchison, Director of Communications & Public Affairs, University of Glasgow; Amb. Dr. Richard Bernal, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs, The UWI; and Mrs. Andrea McNish, University Bursar, The UWI after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding at The UWI Regional Headquarters, Kingston, Jamaica on July 31, 2019, to partner in a reparations strategy including the establishment of the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research.

The historic Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research (GCCDR), a joint initiative of The UWI and the University of Glasgow, began its work in academic year 2019/2020.

The Centre, which is the first institution within British University history dedicated to the slavery reparations policy framework, is co-chaired by Professor Simon Anderson, Director of The UWI's George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre at Cave Hill, and Professor William Cushley of Glasgow University.

The first meeting of its Board of Directors, comprising six senior persons from each university including the co-chairs, was hosted at The UWI Cave Hill Campus in Barbados on December 18, 2019. The research and project development agenda for the Centre which was rolled out at this meeting aims to confront and eradicate the debilitating legacies of slavery and colonisation in the Caribbean.

In its initial 10-year phase, the Centre will focus on three pillars: the public health crisis in the Caribbean (particularly the chronic disease pandemic, considering health disparities within the broader social context including their social and genetic determinants); developing a strong, sustainable economy in a post- colonial Caribbean; and repairing and re-integrating the cultural divide between Africa and members of her Diaspora, torn apart by slavery.

The UWI directors of the GCCDR include Pro Vice- Chancellors Professor Stephan Gift and Professor Clive Landis, Dr. Sonjah Stanley Niaah, Professor Verene Shepherd, and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.