The UN slavery resolution is a milestone – but Africa must act
The resolution marks a turning point, but the real work of reparatory justice rests with African and Caribbean countries.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 25 March 2026 adopted a Ghana-led resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement the ‘gravest crime against humanity’. Most countries (123) voted in favour, while 52, including all 27 European Union (EU) states, abstained. Argentina, Israel and the United States (US) voted against.
The resolution requires member states, individually and collectively, to take part in inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including formal apologies, financial compensation and restitution. The UN General Assembly vote is a win for Africans and people of African descent worldwide, but it is non-binding and has no enforcement mechanism.
The UN’s 2001 Durban Declaration against racism and intolerance described the slave trade as a crime against humanity that requires remedies, but it’s seen no measurable outcome. While the declaration acknowledges that all forms of slavery and slave trade are crimes against humanity in principle, the new resolution focuses on transatlantic slavery, qualifying it as the gravest of crimes and calling explicitly for reparations.
Opposition to the resolution from the US and abstentions by most European countries, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand underscore stark divergences on historical accountability, exposing bleak prospects for the resolution.
African and Caribbean agenda
The Ghana-led resolution builds on African Union (AU) momentum. African leaders at the 14 and 15 February AU summit adopted a declaration recognising ‘slavery, deportation and [colonisation] as crimes against humanity and genocide against the peoples of Africa’. This crystallised Africa’s long-held views of the impact of slavery, colonialism and continued imperialism expressed during the first Pan-African conference on reparations in 1993.
The resolution requires inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice
Advocacies by African and Caribbean stakeholders led to the 2001 declaration against racism and the August 2021 formation of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent as an adviser to the Human Rights Council. The forum seeks to improve the safety, quality of life and livelihoods of those of African descent.
Africa’s reparation agenda reached its crescendo with the AU’s 2025 theme ‘Justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations’. By mid-2025, the AU declared 2026 to 2035 the decade of reparations, charging Ghana’s President John Mahama to champion the cause.
The February AU summit decision called for an African-based global reparations fund to support programmes for indigenous peoples’ development, education systems, restitution, cultural institutions and activities that address systemic racism. The AU called on transatlantic slave trade and colonialism beneficiaries ― including states, institutions and the private sector ― to contribute.
The proposed fund would be managed by the AU and Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), which is equally playing a key role in setting the pace for a reparations agenda for countries and people of African descent, having established a reparations commission in 2013 and a 10-point plan for justice in 2014.
Uncertain fate
During debates at the UN Assembly in March, the US, UK and EU recognised slavery’s ills, but argued against hierarchies among crimes against humanity and against retroactive application of international rules.
The 25 March vote recognised the long-term debilitating impact of transatlantic slavery
Indeed, concerns over describing transatlantic trade as the ‘gravest’ crime against humanity are justified given the history of horrendous crimes against humanity across the globe. These include the world wars, genocides such as those in Rwanda, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the holocaust and the trans-Sahara slave trade where African actors were culpable.
However, the 25 March vote recognised the long-term debilitating impact of transatlantic slavery, which forcibly displaced millions of Africans. It created a global diaspora through a brutal system of slavery and colonialism that reshaped the demographic, economic and social fabric of the modern world. Its impact continues in systemic racism, neocolonialism and predatory economic partnerships such as the CFA franc currency system controlled by France and used by 14 central and west African countries.
The US suggests that the resolution is a cynical use of historical wrongs as a leverage point to reallocate modern resources to people and nations distantly related to historical victims. In his speech at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on 14 February 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to take pride in their heritage. But aspects of his remarks were widely criticised for appearing to valorise colonialism as a foundation of western civilisation.
Rubio’s comments came amid US criticism of Europe’s migration policies and the UK’s decision to cede Chagos Islands sovereignty to Mauritius given legal rulings and 2019 UN General Assembly resolutions recognising Mauritius’s sovereignty over the islands.
Western opposition to the demand for reparations reflects historical amnesia and indicates that any expectations for reparation will be met with pushbacks or tokenism that might lead to re-victimisation. Affected countries and populations must be proactive in setting the pace on achieving reparations.
Pathways to meaningful reparation
The results of persistent activism and judicial processes leading to the UK’s decision to recognise Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and the return of artefacts to African countries suggest that sustained and constructive engagement is crucial.
Countries seeking reparations must be accountable, addressing corruption and resource mismanagement
Driven by decades of activism, Belgium in 2020 and 2022 expressed regrets for colonial atrocities in the DRC. Germany officially apologised in 2021 for the 1904 to 1908 Namibia genocide and pledged reconciliation funds.
Key multilateral efforts include the ongoing AU-led drive for common positions on global issues, the proposed global reparations fund, UN Security Council reform, restructuring of international financial systems to reflect African interests as well as activism to cancel unfair debts.
However, African countries often agree on collective, multilateral measures, but succumb nationally to external sway. Many welcome foreign military bases in their territory, for example, despite regular Peace and Security Council decisions urging that states be circumspect and to inform their neighbours and African institutions of such bases. Hence, decisive efforts are needed nationally, especially to address injustices in current and future resource agreements with external powers and multinational corporations.
Tanzania approved laws in 2017 enabling it to renegotiate mining deals to secure a greater revenue share from its natural resources. In the DRC, the government led many deals between 2023 and 2024 to renegotiate its 2008 agreement with Chinese firms. These required China to increase infrastructure investment commitment from US$3 billion to U$7 billion. The Economic Community of West African States and the Alliance for Sahel States are also separately considering currencies to replace the French-controlled CFA franc, although this has been proposed for decades and viability is in question.
Despite Africa’s vast resource potential, years of providing cheap raw resources to industrialised nations have sustained poverty and underdevelopment which are major causes of instability on the continent. African countries must push for resource trading structures that foster industrialisation in the medium- to long term to improve resources’ economic value. And countries seeking systemic reparations must improve domestic accountability, addressing corruption, resource mismanagement and consent to unfair deals.
African countries and the AU must double down on dialogue and, where necessary, introduce conciliatory measures to secure the return of cultural properties and artefacts. The November 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration on Reparations calls for robust monitoring of reparations. Such a system must provide coordination and support structures to maintain pressure where reparation efforts stall locally, nationally, continentally and globally. Lasting reparations depend on addressing internalised racism and the deep-seated inferiority complex engendered by slavery and colonialism.
The AU and Caribbean countries, with diaspora communities globally, must work with international partners to emphasise that the demand for restitution is not adversarial but a striving for mutual redress and reconciliation.
