Prime Minister of Barbados speaking at the high level conference
The global campaign for reparatory justice entered a decisive new phase today Thursday 18th June 2026 in Accra, Ghana as delegates from more than 80 countries are participating in the Next Steps High-Level Consultative Conference on Reparatory Justice holding in the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra. This delegation comprises heads of state, ministers, historians, civil society leaders and legal scholars.
Nobel Laureate speaking at the high level conference
Among speakers at the high level conference is a distinguished assembly of African and Caribbean leaders, including President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama; Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley; President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai; President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye; President of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah; President of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Manuel Vila Nova; Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, as well as several political leaders, diplomats, and thought leaders.
President of Ghana and African Union Champion on Reparations delivering his keynote address
The keynote speaker is the President of Ghana and African Union Champion on Reparations, Pres. John Dramani Mahama while President of France, Emmanuel Macron delivered a virtual address.
The landmark gathering, regarded as the first major international convening since the United Nations declared the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans the gravest crime against humanity, is expected to shape the future of the global reparations movement.
At the heart of discussions in the three-day summit is the implementation of the landmark UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250, adopted on March 25, 2026, following a proposal championed by Ghana on behalf of the African Union. The resolution, supported by 123 member states, formally recognized the trafficking and racialized enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity and called for inclusive dialogue on reparatory justice and restitution.
The Accra Meeting established a Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice comprising the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama; Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley; President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai; President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye; and President of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. an Expert Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Artefacts, and a Legal Panel for Reparatory Justice.
The conference will sustain a permanent high-level consultative mechanism linking Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and North America. It will culminate on June 19 with a solemn Juneteenth commemoration at the historic Osu Castle, one of West Africa’s most significant slave forts.
For many gathered in Accra, the message is unmistakable: the era of merely acknowledging the horrors of slavery is giving way to a determined effort to secure justice for its enduring consequences.
