President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama (L), arrives at the Next Step Summit, a high-level consultative conference on the Landmark UN Resolution on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans in Accra, on June 18, 2026. Photo: CLAUDIA LACAVE / AFP
Ghana on Thursday held a landmark global conference seeking to translate growing political support for slavery reparations into practical commitments towards justice.
The United Nations in March adopted a landmark resolution that recognised that the transatlantic slave trade was “the gravest crime against humanity”.
Since the adoption of the resolution in March, the campaign for reparatory justice has gathered “unprecedented momentum”, said Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Ablakwa.
While non-binding, the resolution — pushed for by Ghanaian President John Mahama — goes beyond simple acknowledgement and asks nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice.
