Key facts
- A global framework for reparatory justice was adopted in Accra, Ghana.
- The 19-point plan calls for formal apologies, debt relief, financial compensation, and restitution of cultural property.
- It advocates for a Global Reparations Fund and reforms to international financial institutions.
- The framework was endorsed by the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Commission on Reparatory Justice.
- Three global panels on reparatory justice and restitution have been established.
African and Caribbean nations have formally demanded apologies, debt relief, and financial compensation from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade, adopting a comprehensive 19-point reparations plan at a conference in Ghana. The plan, endorsed by the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Commission on Reparatory Justice, calls for the establishment of a Global Reparations Fund, comprehensive debt relief for affected nations, and reforms to international financial institutions to ensure fairer representation for the Global South.
The framework also includes demands for the restitution of looted cultural property and ancestral remains, climate justice financing, and specific measures to address the brutalities inflicted on African women and girls during slavery. It urges African countries to grant the right of return and citizenship pathways for diaspora Africans.
This push for reparations follows a UN resolution, approved in March despite resistance from Europe and the United States, that recognized transatlantic slavery as the "gravest crime against humanity." The resolution passed with 123 votes in favor, but the U.S., Israel, and 52 other countries abstained or opposed it, citing concerns about creating a hierarchy among crimes against humanity.
Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama addressed the conference, stating that history requires nations to "inherit responsibility" rather than guilt for past atrocities. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking virtually, acknowledged the dehumanization of enslaved people and noted that reparations should not be viewed as a definitive end to the issue. Three global panels on reparatory justice and restitution have been established to support the implementation of the framework.