In a landmark diplomatic victory for Ghana and the African continent, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade and the racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
The resolution, titled “Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity,” passed with 123 votes in favour, 3 against, and 52 abstentions.
President John Dramani Mahama, who serves as the African Union’s Champion for Advancing the Cause of Justice and Payment of Reparations, led Ghana’s effort to table the resolution on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, described the adoption as a historic moment that formally acknowledges the unprecedented scale, duration, brutality, and enduring intergenerational consequences of the transatlantic slave trade, which saw over 12.5 million Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic over four centuries.
The resolution builds on earlier declarations, including the 1993 Abuja Proclamation and the 2001 Durban Declaration, but marks the first comprehensive UN resolution on the subject in the organisation’s 80-year history. It is expected to strengthen global conversations on reparatory justice, apologies, and restorative measures for affected communities in Africa and the African Diaspora.
The initiative received strong backing from the African Union, Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and several Global South nations, including Brazil.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Samuel Yao Kumah, emphasised that the resolution does not seek to rank suffering but to address a unique historical injustice grounded in international law.