The UN General Assembly’s resolution on Wednesday declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans “the gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations is being welcomed across Africa and among slave descendants and advocates of restorative justice.
About 12 million Africans were forcefully taken by European nations from the 16th to the 19th century and enslaved on plantations that built wealth at the price of misery.
Ghana sought the resolution that also urged “the prompt and unhindered restitution” of cultural items—including artwork, monuments, museum pieces, documents, and national archives—to their countries of origin without charge.
The UN resolution is “an answer to the prayers of our kidnapped, oppressed and murdered ancestors,” said Erieka Bennett, founder of the Diaspora African Forum, a Ghana-based organization that connects people of African descent with their roots.
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What to Know as Africans Welcome UN Vote on Slavery Reparations
03/26/2026
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We work side by side with victims to obtain acknowledgment and redress for massive human rights violations, hold those responsible to account, reform and build democratic institutions, and prevent the recurrence of violence or repression.