Mahama, Mottley, Boakai to headline Ghana’s UN reparatory justice event today

• Ghana will host a UNGA side event on reparatory justice on September 23.

• The event follows the June Next Steps Conference in Accra and its global commitments.

• Three panels will report on progress towards restitution and reparatory justice.

The event, to be held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, follows Ghana’s High-Level Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice held in Accra in June.

The New York event will focus on moving from commitments to action, with progress reports expected from three global mechanisms established following the Accra conference.

The initiative follows the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250 on March 25, 2026. The resolution recognised the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. It was supported by 123 UN member states, with 56 abstentions and three votes against.

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Ghana subsequently convened the three-day Next Steps Conference in Accra from June 17 to 19, bringing together government representatives, scholars, legal experts, civil society groups and members of the African diaspora to develop a practical roadmap for advancing reparatory justice.

The conference resulted in the Accra Next Steps Commitments on Reparatory Justice, which called for stronger international cooperation, legal and institutional pathways for redress, cultural restitution, historical truth-telling, education and greater engagement with the African diaspora.

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President John Dramani Mahama subsequently announced three global mechanisms to drive the next phase of the agenda: a High-Level Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, a Global Experts Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Heritage and a Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice.

The New York event is expected to provide an update on the work of these panels and further discussions on international cooperation towards restitution and reparatory justice.

The event will be co-hosted by Ghana, Germany and France and is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm New York time at The Pierre, a Taj Hotel.

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President Mahama, who is also the African Union Champion on Reparations, is listed as the keynote speaker. Other expected participants include the presidents of Namibia, Liberia, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Suriname and Ghana, as well as Prime Ministers Mia Mottley of Barbados, Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago and Alix Didier Fils-Aimé of Haiti. UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany and African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi are also expected to participate.