Ghana is set to make history at the United Nations as President John Dramani Mahama prepares to table a landmark resolution declaring the Transatlantic Slave Trade the gravest crime against humanity. The resolution will be presented to the UN General Assembly on 25th March 2026, coinciding with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The initiative, consistent with President Mahama’s pledge at last year’s UN General Assembly, is being advanced in collaboration with the African Union (AU), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and global partners. Ghana, serving as AU Champion on Reparations, has spearheaded the drafting of the resolution, which formally recognizes the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity due to its scale, systemic brutality, and enduring consequences.
If adopted, the resolution will be the first comprehensive UN declaration on slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the organization’s 80-year history. It is expected to preserve historical truth, strengthen calls for reparatory justice, and lay the foundation for reconciliation and accountability.
The resolution also seeks to address structural inequalities that continue to shape global realities, including debt asymmetries, development gaps, climate vulnerability, and financial governance. Ghana has pledged to continue advancing multilateral efforts on reparatory justice within the framework of the AU’s Decade of Action on Reparations and African Heritage (2026–2036).
This historic move underscores Ghana’s leadership in championing justice for people of African descent worldwide and signals a renewed global reckoning with the legacies of slavery.
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