01/07/2026
GHANA LEADS GLOBAL CONVERSATION ON REPARATORY JUSTICE
Accra became the center of a historic global dialogue as leaders, policymakers, academics, civil society organizations, and representatives of the African diaspora from over 80 countries gathered for the High-Level Consultative Conference on the implementation of the landmark UN Resolution A/RES/80/250.
The conference, hosted by the Government of Ghana from June 17–19, 2026, marked the first major global gathering since the United Nations General Assembly recognized the trafficking and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as among the gravest crimes against humanity.
In his keynote address, President John Dramani Mahama emphasized that reparatory justice is not only about acknowledging the past but also about expanding opportunities, advancing human development, and creating a more just future for communities affected by the enduring consequences of historical injustice.
The President also called for a gender-responsive approach to reparatory justice, stressing that the experiences of women and girls cannot remain footnotes in history. He noted that while history remembers the names of ships, merchants, and trading companies, it often forgets the women whose bodies became sites of exploitation and the mothers who endured the pain of separation from their children. He argued that truth-telling, remembrance, and memorialization must place the experiences of women and girls at the center of the global reparations discourse.
Prominent voices, including Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia, and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, called for truth, healing, restitution, and justice, while stressing that reparations are not acts of charity but acts of justice.
A major outcome of the conference was the adoption of the Accra Next Step, establishing international advisory, cultural restitution, and legal panels to advance global efforts on reparatory justice.
As Africa and its diaspora continue to pursue recognition, repair, and restoration, Ghana has once again demonstrated leadership in shaping an important global conversation on justice, memory, shared humanity, and the rights and dignity of all those historically marginalized.
