New York 25th March 2026– The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a historic resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity,” despite opposition from the United States and a handful of other nations.
The measure, championed by Ghana and strongly backed by the African Union and Caribbean states, won overwhelming support with 123 votes in favor. Only three countries – the United States, Israel, and Argentina – opposed the resolution, while 52 nations, including the United Kingdom and all 27 members of the European Union, abstained.
Ghana argued that the resolution was necessary to confront the enduring legacy of slavery, pointing to persistent racial disparities across the globe. “We did it for Africa and all people of African descent,” Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa declared in a post sharing the vote tally.
Speaking on behalf of the African Union before the vote, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama emphasized the moral weight of the decision: “Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice. The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting.”
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, enslaved, and transported across the Atlantic to the Americas and the Caribbean. Conditions on the brutal voyages were so horrific that only 10.7 million survived.
The resolution, though non-binding, carries symbolic power. Advocates say it marks a crucial step toward global recognition of slavery’s devastating impact and opens the door for deeper conversations on reparations and racial justice.
