This is the second in a four-part mini-series, released in the run-up to the UN Oceans Conference, exploring some of the ocean-related issues facing the eastern Caribbean island nation of Barbados.

“We can’t heal by ignoring what happened” – that’s one of the key demands for greater racial justice in the United States, from the founder of the influential 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones. For this latest edition of our ‘Lid is On’ podcast, she sat down with UN News’s Ben Malor to discuss the need for a deeper reckoning with the history of slavery at home, and worldwide - including the “essential” provision of reparations for Black Americans, today.

As the UN independent expert on contemporary racism and intolerance, Tendayi Achiume leads a worldwide effort to combat related human rights violations and tackle systemic racism, through fact-finding missions on the ground, investigating alleged violations, and submitting her findings to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly in New York.

In this special edition of our Lid is On podcast - part of our multimedia coverage surrounding the 20th anniversary of the historic Durban Declaration to counter racism – Mita Hosali speaks to Ms. Achiume about where we stand now, two decades on.

At times it seemed that a COP26 resolution was still hours or even days away but, on Saturday evening, a final document was finally adopted, despite the misgivings expressed by many countries at revised language regarding fossil fuels.