The Accra Next Steps Commitments: What the 19-Point Reparatory Justice Plan Demands

On June 19, 2026, African and Caribbean nations concluded a three-day "Next Steps" High-Level Consultative Conference in Accra, Ghana, by adopting the Accra Next Steps Commitments on Reparatory Justice — a 19-point plan (structured as 18 strategic pillars within a 46-paragraph outcome document) for global reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent .

What the 19-point plan demands from former slave-trading nations

The plan demands that countries that profited from the transatlantic slave trade issue formal, unconditional apologies and provide financial compensation and reparations. This demand is rooted in the principle that there is both a moral and legal obligation on the part of perpetrators to make full amends . No specific financial figure was mentioned in the commitments .

How the plan addresses debt relief, diaspora return, cultural artifacts, and remembrance sites

The Accra Commitments include concrete provisions across four key areas:

• Debt relief — The plan explicitly calls for debt forgiveness and cancellation for African and Caribbean nations as a form of reparatory justice, including multilateral measures to ease sovereign debt burdens .
• Diaspora return — It demands repatriation for members of the African diaspora who wish to return to the continent .
• Cultural artifacts — It calls for the restitution of stolen cultural property and heritage pillaged during colonization and enslavement . During the conference, the Netherlands pledged to return approximately 2,000 cataloged artifacts to Ghana, Germany announced readiness to repatriate artifacts from the Bono Traditional Area, and Denmark offered a formal apology for its role in the slave trade and committed to partnering with Ghana on preservation .
• Remembrance sites — The framework includes commitments to establish memorialization and remembrance sites dedicated to the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade .

Who delivered the keynote messages

The conference was convened at the invitation of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who serves as the African Union Champion on Reparatory Justice . He delivered the opening address, calling for a new phase of global engagement and urging the international community to move beyond acknowledgment of historical injustices toward concrete action, truth-telling, and reconciliation . French President Emmanuel Macron also addressed the conference, marking a significant diplomatic moment . Other keynote speakers included Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, President Joseph Boakai of Liberia, and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal .

The landmark UN resolution that preceded the meeting

On March 25, 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/80/250, titled the Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity — the first UN resolution in 80 years dedicated exclusively to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade . The resolution was spearheaded by Ghana and supported by the African Union and CARICOM . The vote was 123 in favor, 3 against, with 52 abstentions . The three countries that voted against were Argentina, Israel, and the United States . Among those abstaining were the United Kingdom, Canada, and all European Union member states, including Spain . The resolution is not legally binding but carries significant political and moral weight .

What happens next

The Accra Next Steps Commitments are intended as a roadmap to be presented to the United Nations and other international bodies to build a formal global reparations framework . The conference also established new institutional mechanisms — including a High-Level Global Advisory Council on Reparatory Justice, a Global Expert Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Heritage, and a Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice — to sustain the push for accountability and implementation .