Baku to host international conference on Guadeloupe’s decolonisation

Baku, increasingly recognised as a hub for global dialogue on decolonisation, will soon host an international conference focused on the political status of Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory facing continued colonial policies.

As reported by local media, the event will be organized through the collaboration of several activist and civil society organizations, including the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), the People's Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe (UPLG), the International Movement for Reparations for Guadeloupe (MIR-Guadeloupe), the International Committee of Black Peoples (CIPN), and the Movement for the Creation of the Nation of Guadeloupe (FKNG).

The conference is being coordinated by the Baku Initiative Group against French Colonialism, an entity established during the July 6, 2023, event titled “Towards the Complete Elimination of Colonialism.” That landmark gathering, hosted in Baku under the auspices of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), laid the foundation for a broader movement to challenge France’s ongoing neo-colonial presence in its overseas territories.

Historically, France developed one of the world’s most expansive colonial empires, second only to the British Empire by the interwar period. Its imperial reach extended across vast territories in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, India, Indochina, and the South Pacific. Promoted under the guise of a “Civilising Mission,” French colonialism sought to impose the French language and Catholicism across its domains.

However, this imperial expansion consistently met with resistance from colonised populations determined to reclaim their independence. For example, in what is now Burkina Faso — formerly the Republic of Upper Volta — the Mossi kingdoms, established between the 11th and 13th centuries, fiercely resisted French domination. Though the region was colonised in 1896, it moved toward autonomy in 1958 and gained full independence in 1960, with Maurice Yaméogo becoming its first president.

The Baku Initiative Group was founded to push for concrete actions against what it describes as modern forms of de facto slavery and colonial control, particularly in Africa and other formerly colonised regions.

The group’s foundational statement, issued at the 2023 conference, calls for the total dismantling of colonial structures and the promotion of self-determination and national sovereignty for all peoples still under foreign control.

By Tamilla Hasanova