Ghana will host a high-level summit on reparations on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, as the country seeks to build on the landmark UN resolution recognising the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement as the “gravest crime against humanity.”
The summit, scheduled for September 23, 2026, will provide an opportunity to assess progress on commitments made following the adoption of the resolution and receive reports from three panels established during the Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice held in Accra in June.
The high-level meeting is expected to bring together participants from African and Caribbean countries, with possible representation from other partners involved in the global reparatory justice agenda.
The three panels are the High-Level Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, the Global Experts Panel on Restitution of Cultural Heritage and the Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the panels were established to advance efforts to uncover historical truths, advocate for the restitution of cultural heritage and strengthen the legal and policy foundations for reparatory justice.
“Their mandate is to lead us in unearthing the truth, advocating for restitution, and ensuring that the language of justice permeates the halls of power and policymaking. The return of looted African artefacts, Legislative repeals, such as France’s Code Noir, and historic acknowledgements and commitments from global institutions, will represent tangible milestones on our road to justice.” the Ministry stated.
Their work forms part of the implementation of the Accra Next Steps Commitments on Reparatory Justice, adopted at the conclusion of the three-day High-Level Consultative Conference in Accra in June.
The conference brought together heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, academics, civil society leaders and representatives of the African diaspora to develop a roadmap for implementing the UN resolution.
The UN General Assembly adopted the Ghana-led resolution, A/RES/80/250, on March 25, 2026, with 123 countries voting in favour, three against and 52 abstaining. Argentina, Israel and the United States voted against the resolution.
The resolution declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the system of racialised chattel enslavement of Africans to constitute “the gravest crime against humanity,” while highlighting the scale, duration, systemic nature, brutality and enduring consequences of the system.
Ghana has since sought to move the reparations debate beyond historical recognition towards practical measures, including restitution, institutional accountability, acknowledgement of historical responsibility and greater international cooperation.
One area receiving renewed attention is the restitution of cultural heritage taken from Africa during the colonial era. Ghana has also maintained that reparatory justice should include acknowledgement of historical wrongs and concrete commitments by institutions that benefited from slavery and the slave trade.
The developments since the UN resolution have included a number of significant institutional acknowledgements.
In May 2026, the Church of Scotland formally apologised for its historical links to transatlantic chattel slavery, acknowledging that some of its members and office-holders participated in and benefited from the system and that some provided theological justifications for slavery.
The Church’s General Assembly also established a working group to consider appropriate next steps, including repair, reconciliation, education and racial justice.
The Catholic Church also issued a significant acknowledgement. Pope Leo XIV, in his first papal encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” expressed deep sorrow and apologised for the Holy See’s historical role in legitimising and sustaining slavery, including the enslavement of Africans. Ghana subsequently welcomed the apology as a contribution to global efforts towards historical truth, reconciliation and reparatory justice.
The Church of England has also continued its response to its historical links to African chattel enslavement. Its Church Commissioners have committed £100 million to a Fund for Healing, Justice and Repair, with the fund intended to support communities affected by the legacy of enslavement through investment and grant-making.
The Church has said the initiative is not designed as direct compensation to individual descendants but as a long-term effort to address the legacy of slavery and promote a more equitable future.
The developments have added momentum to Ghana’s push for a broader international conversation on reparatory justice, particularly around restitution, historical acknowledgement, economic inequality and the enduring effects of slavery and colonialism.
For Ghana, the September summit is therefore expected to provide an opportunity to assess how these commitments are translating into practical action and what further steps African and Caribbean countries, international institutions and other partners can take.
The discussions are also expected to feed into Ghana’s wider reparations agenda, including efforts to secure the return of looted African cultural heritage and strengthen international recognition of the historical and continuing consequences of the transatlantic slave trade.
The summit will come as Ghana continues to use its leadership of the African reparations agenda to press for a global response that moves beyond expressions of regret towards concrete measures of justice, restitution and reconciliation.
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