Leaders and representatives from across the world have adopted the Accra Next Steps Commitments on Reparatory Justice (Accra Outcome Document) at the High-Level Consultative Conference held in Accra from June 17–19, 2026.

Hosted by President John Dramani Mahama, the outcome document outlines a coordinated global response to implement UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250, which declares the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity.

Download the full document here:
📄 View/Download the Official Accra Next Steps PDF

Key Features and Strategic Pillars

The document is structured around normative frameworks, shared principles, and a Global Strategic Framework with the following core pillars:

• Acknowledgment of Truth and Apology — Calls for full, formal, and unconditional apologies from states and institutions involved, accompanied by guarantees of non-repetition.
• Law and Justice — Strengthens legal pathways, accountability mechanisms, and reforms to address systemic racism and support generational victims.
• Compensatory Reparations — Emphasises restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and cessation of ongoing harm.
• Additional pillars (as outlined in the document) focus on rehabilitation, guarantees of non-repetition, cultural restitution, education and memory, development cooperation, and institutional reform.

The commitments draw on existing frameworks such as the revised CARICOM Ten Point Plan, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Accra Proclamation (2023), and various AU and UN decisions.

It stresses solidarity among Africans and People of African Descent, the right to development, and the need for inclusive global dialogue.

Ghana’s government has welcomed a landmark commitment from the Netherlands and Germany to return approximately 2,000 artefacts looted from the West African nation during the colonial era, Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced on Saturday.

The pledges were made during the Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice, held in Accra, where ambassadors from both European countries presented a catalogue of the treasures earmarked for repatriation to President John Dramani Mahama during the conference’s plenary session.

“The Government of Ghana welcomes the commendable announcement from the Netherlands and Germany during the Next Steps Conference that they are ready to return about 2,000 looted artefacts and items of cultural significance back to Ghana,” Ablakwa said in a Facebook post on Saturday, 20 June.

The Foreign Minister described the development as a significant milestone in efforts to address the historical removal of African cultural heritage, reflecting growing international willingness to engage in restitution processes following sustained diplomatic engagement.

Denmark issues apology, pledges castle preservation

In a further breakthrough, the Foreign Minister of Denmark issued an apology for his country’s role in the transatlantic enslavement of Africans and pledged support for preserving the castles Denmark built along Ghana’s coast.

Ablakwa noted that the Danish commitment forms part of broader efforts aimed at promoting historical truth, acknowledging past injustices, and ensuring non-repetition.

“The Foreign Minister of Denmark also apologized for their role in the transatlantic enslavement and pledged to help preserve the castles they built as a good faith effort to prevent historical erasure, promote truth telling and guarantee non-repetition,” he stated.

Ghana-led UN resolution credited for shift

The government attributed the positive turn in restitution cooperation to the adoption of a historic Ghana-led United Nations resolution on the return of looted cultural property.

“We applaud the positive conduct of restitution we are beginning to witness from our international partners in Europe since the adoption of the historic Ghana-led UN Resolution,” Ablakwa said.

The three-day Next Steps Conference, which ran from Wednesday to Friday, brought together heads of state from Africa and the Caribbean, as well as representatives from UNESCO, the African Union, and a French government delegation.

African leaders and global advocates for reparative justice used the platform to call for stronger international efforts to address the enduring legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and advance historical redress.

The expected repatriation forms part of a broader push by African nations to reclaim cultural artefacts taken during the colonial period, many of which remain in European museums and private collections. Details on the timeline for the physical return of the artefacts, as well as plans for their reception and display in Ghana, are expected to be announced in due course.

President John Dramani Mahama has issued an open invitation to people of African descent worldwide to return to Ghana, citing legislation that grants the right of abode and a visa-free regime that eliminates cost barriers for African travelers.

Speaking at the close of the three-day Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice and the historic joint commemoration of Juneteenth at Christiansborg Castle in Accra, President Mahama told diaspora representatives from the Americas and the Caribbean that Ghana was their home.

“Ghana is your home, and you are all free to visit Ghana whenever you want. We have passed an act that allows people of African descent to seek abode in Ghana. If you want to come home to the motherland, Ghana is one of the countries that has a law that allows you to come and stay,” President Mahama said.

The President noted that Ghana had introduced a visa-free regime for all Africans, removing the cost barrier that had made travel to the country inaccessible for many on the continent. He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working to extend the same arrangement to CARICOM countries, and that visa waivers were already in place with most Caribbean nations.

Conference and Juneteenth Commemoration

The invitation came at the conclusion of three days of deliberations on reparatory justice that brought together leaders, scholars, jurists and civil society representatives from Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Latin America — many of them descendants of Africans taken from the continent through the transatlantic slave trade.

President Mahama told the gathering that the conference marked the beginning of a unified voice between Africa and its diaspora, and that the joint commemoration of Juneteenth on African soil for the first time was a symbol of what that unity looked like in practice. The event, held on June 19, 2026, included an emotional reenactment of the slave trade at the historic Osu Castle and was attended by Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, along with heads of state and government representatives from across Africa and the Caribbean.

Concrete Legislative Steps

President Mahama said Ghana’s role as a destination for the African diaspora was not merely symbolic. The country had taken concrete legislative steps to make return a real option for those who wished to reconnect with the continent, building on the Right of Abode legislation that had already drawn thousands of diaspora Africans, particularly from the United States, to settle in the country.

The Right of Abode law, passed in 2001, grants descendants of enslaved Africans the right to reside permanently in Ghana, enter without a visa, and work without a work permit. The government’s new e-visa platform, launched on Africa Day, May 25, 2026, allows all African passport holders to apply for visas online without paying any fees.

Justice Beyond Reparations

The President said the work of the conference extended beyond reparations and the return of cultural artefacts into a broader advocacy for a more equal world — one that offered genuine opportunity to the descendants of those who had been taken from Africa in chains and whose communities continued to bear the economic consequences of that history.

“The pursuit of justice extends beyond reparations and the return of cultural artefacts,” President Mahama emphasized, calling for a more equitable and inclusive global order that provides opportunity, dignity, and fairness for all people.

A Unified Roadmap

Participants at the conference adopted an outcome document to guide future international cooperation on reparatory justice, historical remembrance, and restitution. President Mahama described the gathering as a milestone in strengthening ties between Africa and its diaspora, declaring: “Ghana is your home. You are always welcome in the motherland.”

The joint commemoration stands as a powerful symbol of unity between Africa and its diaspora, while reinforcing ongoing efforts toward justice, recognition, and shared progress.