The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) organized a side event titled Solidarity for Decolonization and Green Future within the framework of COP29.
According to Report, the event was attended by MPs, heads of NGOs, politicians, eco-activists, human rights defenders and others from formerly colonized African countries including Mali, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Djibouti, Togo, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Cameroon.
The event focused on ecological challenges in former colonies and the participants exchanged views on optimal paths toward a green and foreign intervention-free future for the African continent. Discussions covered the negative impacts of colonialism in these regions, sustainable development, and issues promoting ecological restoration and sustainability.
Speaking about relations with former colonial powers in their countries, African MPs condemned these states' inability to abandon colonial policies and attempts to implement new manifestations of colonialism. In this regard, they emphasized how they were expelled from Africa's Sahel region as a result of French policy:
"Practical steps must be taken for the decolonization process to be successful. Like the peoples of Africa who have suffered from colonialism, regions currently under colonial rule must also be decolonized quickly."
BIG organized this side event within the framework of the "COP29: International Initiatives" grant competition jointly announced by Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry and the Agency for State Support to NGOs.
Photo: Samira Hasanova