A global framework for reparatory justice was adopted at a conference in Ghana this week, giving the UN's landmark resolution on the trafficking of enslaved Africans the detailed agenda it has been waiting for.
The 18-point document, finalized Friday at a hotel in Accra, commits to fair compensation for Africans and people of African descent affected by enslavement, colonialism, genocide, and apartheid. It also calls for the return of looted cultural property, human remains, and archives, plus some serious debt relief to address the lingering economic hangover from centuries of exploitation.
“We recognise and honour the extensive efforts undertaken over generations,” the participants declared, name-checking everyone from African governments to civil society partners across continents. The document commits to “transparent, constructive and good faith dialogue” - which is diplomatic code for “we're actually going to try this time.”
Ruth Ogbewekon, project lead at the Pan African Lawyers Union, said the drafting process was all about inclusivity, noting that representatives from Africa, the diaspora, and non-African allies were consulted over weeks. “Ultimately, it was a process where people wanted to be heard,” she said, adding that Accra provided that platform.
The three-day conference, called Next Steps, also birthed three global panels: an advisory panel on reparatory justice, an expert panel on cultural restitution, and a legal panel on reparatory justice. Ghana’s President John Mahama, who is also the African Union Champion on Reparations, said these panels are not meant to replace governments but to offer “intellectual, technical and policy support” as the world moves from recognition to implementation.
The advisory panel boasts a heavyweight lineup: Mahama, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and presidents from Liberia, Namibia, and Senegal. Mottley announced a revision of Caricom’s 10-point reparation plan to spotlight the impact of slavery on girls and women, urging a united global push.
“Let us not embark on separate journeys,” Mottley said. “Where damage is perpetrated, repair is always, always required.”
The conference drew leaders from over 80 countries, plus historians, researchers, and legal experts. It comes three months after the UN General Assembly adopted a Ghana-led resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity - a resolution that calls for “inclusive, good-faith dialogue” and prompt return of stolen property.
Thursday’s events included documentary screenings, a stage play, and a music performance, because nothing says “reparatory justice” like a good show. Mahama, in his keynote, said the resolution provides a foundation for “more meaningful” action, and urged global partnership, noting Caricom’s plan as a starting point.
“The crime we seek to address was transcontinental in its reach,” Mahama said. “Its consequences remain transcontinental in its impact, and the search for justice must therefore be transcontinental in its ambition.”
Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai Sr. warned against the conference becoming just another footnote: “Let us not be remembered as another conference or another resolution that stirs consciences briefly before fading into history.”
Friday’s events include a ceremony at Osu Castle, a 17th-century Danish-built fortress that was a hub for the slave trade, to honor Juneteenth. Because nothing says “atoning for history” like holding a ceremony at the scene of the crime.