Ghana Leads Historic UN Resolution on Slave Trade Justice

After generations of waiting, Africa is taking its case for justice to the world's highest stage.

President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana will present a landmark resolution to the UN General Assembly in March, asking the world to formally recognize the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime against humanity. The African Union unanimously adopted the draft resolution at its 39th Assembly of Heads of State and Government on February 15.

"All peoples of African descent have been waiting for this day," President Mahama said in his capacity as the AU Champion for Advancing the Cause of Justice and Payment of Reparations. "The truth cannot be buried."

The resolution represents a year-long push to elevate Africa's reparatory justice agenda on the global stage. First introduced at the UN General Assembly in September 2025, the effort has gained momentum through coordinated continental action.

The AU has established three new bodies to pursue reparations: a Coordination Team on Reparations, a Committee of Experts, and a Reference Group of Legal Experts. These groups are working to address the ongoing legacies of transatlantic enslavement, colonialism, and apartheid.

President Mahama urged African nations to create their own national reparations commissions and engage directly with countries that profited from slavery. He's proposing a full Decade of Reparations to maintain pressure beyond 2025, which the AU has declared the Year of Justice for Africans through Reparations.

Throughout 2025, major gatherings from Accra to Madrid and the 9th Pan-African Congress in Lomé have helped reshape global conversations about historical justice. The AU has partnered with UNESCO and the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent to ensure Africa's perspective influences discussions on cultural restitution and truth-telling.

The Ripple Effect

This resolution could transform how the world addresses historical injustices. By framing reparations as forward-looking instruments for justice and development rather than backward-looking complaints, African leaders are creating a blueprint that other communities seeking redress might follow.

The approach emphasizes practical outcomes like economic development, cultural restoration, and institutional reform. It connects historical wrongs to present-day inequalities in ways that make the case for action clearer and more compelling.

President Mahama challenged current African leaders to show courage so future generations remember them "not for hesitation, but for advancing justice, restoring dignity, securing restitution and shaping a future grounded in truth." His call echoes the determination that won political independence decades ago, now channeled toward economic and moral justice.

The March presentation promises to be a defining moment in a movement that has built carefully from grassroots activism to continental coordination to global diplomacy. After centuries of silence, Africa's case for justice will finally get its day at the UN.