The University of Glasgow will fund a £20million programme of “reparative justice” over its historical links to slavery.
An agreement reached with the University of the West Indies will see the creation of the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research.
The £20million will fund the project for 20 years.
The centre will host events, sponsor research and raise public awareness about the history of slavery and its impact.
University of Glasgow chief operating officer Dr David Duncan signed the agreement in Kingston, Jamaica, on Wednesday.
He said the university, which did a year-long study into its links with historical slavery, was “conscious both of the proud part Glasgow played in the abolitionist movement” and aware that it “would have benefited, albeit indirectly, from that heinous trade”.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, praised Glasgow for rising “as an advocate of reparatory justice”.
He said the agreement was a “bold, moral and historic step”.
