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yesterday

African and Caribbean Leaders Adopt 19-Point Reparations Roadmap in Accra

The plan pairs unified demands with three expert panels to translate U.N. recognition of the transatlantic slave trade into legal and diplomatic steps before a joint presentation at the U.N. General Assembly.

Ghana's Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, addresses delegates at the opening of the Slavery Reparations Conference in Accra, Ghana, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Reuben Ekow Quansah)
Ghana's Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, attends the opening of the Slavery Reparations Conference in Accra, Ghana, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Reuben Ekow Quansah)
Ghana's Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, speaks with a delegate at the opening of the Slavery Reparations Conference in Accra, Ghana, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Reuben Ekow Quansah)
Ghana's Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, addresses delegates at the opening of the Slavery Reparations Conference in Accra, Ghana, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Reuben Ekow Quansah)

Overview

  • Delegates from African Union and CARICOM formally adopted the 19-point 'Accra Next Steps Commitments' at a three-day conference that concluded on June 19 in Accra, Ghana.
  • The roadmap calls for formal apologies, comprehensive debt relief and cancellation, financial compensation, a Global Reparations Fund, restitution of looted cultural property and ancestral remains, climate justice financing, and expanded citizenship or right-of-return measures for the diaspora.
  • Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama announced three high-level panels — a Global Advisory Panel, an Expert Panel on Restitution of Cultural Artefacts, and a Global Legal Panel — to develop political, cultural and legal pathways for implementation.
  • The plan is non-binding and deliberately does not name specific respondent countries, leaving material reparations dependent on future diplomacy, legal work, and funding commitments from potential donor states and institutions.
  • Next steps include a joint submission to the next U.N. General Assembly, efforts to design and capitalise a Global Reparations Fund, and proposed reforms to international financial institutions, while observers note political resistance from some countries that opposed or abstained on the March U.N. resolution and practical legal hurdles ahead.