Newsletter 07/26 - Next Steps on Reparatory Justice

From 17 to 19 June 2026 in Accra, Ghana, the representatives of the Member States in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution urging reparations for slavery's historical wrongs have attended the High-level consultative conference on the next steps to the landmark United Nations resolution on the trafficking of enslaved Africans, hosted by the President of Ghana and African Union Champion for Reparations John Dramani Mahama and with the presence, among others, of representatives of Algeria, Barbados, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Namibia, Senegal, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO.

During the Conference a final document was adopted which contains an eighteen-point global strategic framework: acknowledgment of truth and apology, law and justice, compensatory reparations, restitution of cultural property and heritage, decolonisation, global governance reforms, transforming global economic and development architecture, debt relief and financial justice, global reparations fund, corporate accountability and business responsibility, technology innovation and capacity building, public health and well-being, gender justice, climate justice, multi-generational and inter-generational dimension, spiritual, psychological rehabilitation and social healing, education, knowledge and cultural renewal, truth, documentation and public memory, diaspora engagement, citizenship and right of return.

The Conference agreed to meet annually to assess progress, review its implementation and strengthen international collaboration, established a High-Level Global Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, a Global Global Expert Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Heritage and a Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice, recommended that all reparatory justice measures be designed in consultation with affected communities through inclusive and accessible processes, ensuring meaningful participation and local ownership in their implementation, and decided that the final document be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for consideration in relevant reports to the General Assembly and the wider United Nations system in the implementation of programmes.

Colonialism Reparation welcomes that the representatives of the Member States in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/80/250 urging reparations for slavery's historical wrongs have defined the next steps to be followed and hopes that all Member States will actively implement them.