President Mahama is set to table a landmark resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, seeking to formally classify the Transatlantic Slave Trade and racialised chattel slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity”.
The move follows a commitment made by the president during last year’s UN General Assembly. Ghana, acting as the African Union (AU) Champion on Reparations, developed the draft in coordination with CARICOM and the African Union.
The resolution argues that the scale, duration, and systemic brutality of the slave trade warrant this specific designation.
Supporters of the draft emphasise that the enduring socio-economic gaps and structural inequalities seen today are direct consequences of this historical era.
If adopted, this would represent the first comprehensive UN resolution on the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the organisation’s 80-year history.
A statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry noted that beyond its symbolic weight, the document aims to establish a foundation for reparatory justice and international accountability, addressing development gaps and global financial asymmetries and truth-telling as a prerequisite for global healing and reconciliation.
The timing coincides with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery. Ahead of the vote, a wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the African Burial Ground in New York on March 24 at 8:00 am, followed by a high-level forum on reparatory justice at the UN.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs credited a broad coalition of legal experts, historians, and diplomatic missions for the draft.
Government officials, including Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Special Envoy for Reparations Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, have been designated to lead further engagement with the international media.
The adoption of this resolution is expected to kickstart the African Union’s “Decade of Action on Reparations and African Heritage” (2026-2036).
