WILLEMSTAD – The Interministerial Working Group on Slavery Legacy recently held consultations with the Council of Ministers and later gathered for a moment of reflection. This was shared by anthropologist Aisha Gijsbertha-Leer, a member of the working group, in a post on LinkedIn. 

Key representatives from the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature (GMN), the Ministry of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW), and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (OWCS) are working together to address the ongoing impact of slavery’s legacy on Curaçaoan society. 

According to the group, Curaçao continues to live in a colonial reality—not due to a lack of autonomy, but because of systems that still operate under colonial logic. The working group’s Slavery Legacy Action List represents a first step toward recognition, reparative justice, and systemic change. 

The team described the process as emotional and confronting, but also as necessary for healing and moving forward.