In Ghana, an international summit to advance reparations linked to slavery

Following the adoption of the historic United Nations resolution recognizing African slavery as the gravest crime against humanity on March 25, 2026, Ghana invited “heads of state and government, ministers, representatives of civil society, historians, researchers and jurists representing more than eighty countries†to work on a common line intended to determine the different possible forms of repairs. A way to move from declarations to actions, explains The Guardian.

Presented under the title “The Next Step†, it is the first major conference on the issue since the UN resolution.

The summit also brings together representatives from non-African countries, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission (Caricom), the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The presidents of Senegal, Liberia, Namibia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and the African Union Commission are expected later in the Ghanaian capital, adds the German wave.

African countries in solidarity

This is not the first time that African countries have launched such an initiative. The Abuja Proclamation of 1993, for example, already demanded reparations for colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade, laying the groundwork for this campaign. But until now these initiatives had remained “largely fragmented†, remind him Guardian.

In a concept note, Ghana says the UN resolution constituted a fundamental break in the international community’s response to transatlantic trafficking. And that, this time, the “commemorative gestures†would be replaced by “the search for historical truth and dialogue, aiming for reconciliation and justice†.

More “the question we ask ourselves now is this: will the lines move more at the end of this summit? request The Country. Because even after the adoption of the UN resolution, some “slave states plundering resources […] always refuse to take responsibility for history… A total of 123 states voted in favor of the proposal, while three – the United States, Israel and Argentina – voted against and 52, including the United Kingdom and all European Union member states, abstained.

“Faced with this stubbornness to deny the evidence, it is important that African countries remain united, can speak with one voice and agree on a clear framework on the settlement of the dispute over slavery and the slave trade†, assure The Country. The objective is above all to avoid this summit ending on a one-night stand.

Ghana on all fronts

The fact that Ghana is organizing this gathering is symbolic in several respects, notes The Country. First of all “by the choice of locationâ€Â: the country of Kwame Nkrumah is considered “at the crime scene†, where the traces of slavery have not yet disappeared.

“This is from the trading posts of the old Gold Coast [nom du Ghana lors de sa colonisation par le Royaume-Uni] that millions of Africans were deported to the Americas.â€

Then, the country was designated to bring the proposal to recognize the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the most serious crime against humanity to the UN, on behalf of the member states of the African Union. By making a “example of determination†in this fight.

“The determination of African leaders in this fight against slavery and the slave trade is very admirableunderlines The Country. But this fight […] must extend to all forms of violence and injustice suffered by Africans on the continent… continues the Burkinabé daily. Is particularly targeted “the Arab world, which subjected black people to slavery†.

Furthermore, this summit takes place in a context where, in South Africa, “nationals of countries on the continent suffer martyrdom […]victims of xenophobic violence in the country of Nelson Mandela, who must be turning in his grave…