WILLEMSTAD – The Government of Curaçao has formally received approval for funding to implement the Slavery Past Action Agenda 2025–2029, securing a maximum contribution of USD 6,047,130 for the period from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2029.
The national action agenda emerged from the Interministerial Platform for Commemoration, Recognition and Repair, which was formally established by national decree in 2024 (No. 24/757). Since then, the platform has served as the structural policy framework through which Curaçao addresses recognition, repair, and the ongoing societal impact of its slavery past.
Under Article 36 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Directorate-General for Kingdom Relations has now granted the funding to support the agenda’s execution. The government emphasized that the initiative reflects a long-term commitment rather than a one-off project.
Interministerial collaboration
The action agenda was developed through close cooperation among several ministries to ensure alignment between policy and implementation. These include the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature, the Ministry of Social Development, Labor and Welfare, and the Ministry of Governance, Planning and Public Services.
The agenda was shaped through a broad participatory process. Ten dialogue sessions were held with civil society organizations, alongside six internal working sessions within the involved ministries. In total, around one hundred representatives from the healthcare, education, cultural, social welfare, and labor sectors actively contributed.
According to the government, the approach explicitly recognizes that the slavery past is not a closed chapter, but one that continues to influence contemporary institutions, policies, healthcare systems, and social relations.
Four strategic pillars
The allocated funds are evenly distributed across four strategic pillars:
Digitization of the Colonial Archives (BPD)
More than 4,000 archive boxes containing approximately 2.6 million documents will be digitized. This will make vital historical material accessible worldwide to researchers, educational institutions, and descendants of enslaved people. The project also contributes to heritage preservation, knowledge development, and local employment.
Education, Language and Heritage (OWCS)
This pillar consists of three core projects: the development of a national museum policy; the creation of a school language and subject-specific terminology list in Papiamentu; and an exploration of an appropriate educational language model for functional Dutch within a multilingual Caribbean context. The goal is to better align education with the lived experience and language of children in Curaçao, improve learning outcomes, decolonize the curriculum, and sustainably strengthen the cultural sector.
Health and Community Care (GMN)
This component focuses on strengthening community-based care organizations and recognizing traditional Curaçaoan medicine within public policy. The aim is to reduce health disparities and rebuild trust that has been historically eroded.
Socio-economic Repair and Support (SOAW)
This pillar seeks to support vulnerable families, combat poverty, improve access to employment, and promote intergenerational social repair.
Structural repair as a national process
With this action agenda, Curaçao underlines that it takes seriously the commitment made on December 19, 2022 regarding recognition of the slavery past. The government describes the agenda as a coherent set of concrete actions and stresses that repair is a long-term societal process.
By investing in education, healthcare, cultural awareness, and social justice, the Slavery Past Action Agenda 2025–2029 marks a significant step in the institutional embedding of recognition, repair, and sustainable social strengthening—for today’s society and future generations.