Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
News

UN adopts resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity”

27 March 2026

The United Nations General Assembly voted on Wednesday (25 March) to recognise transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling on UN member states to contribute to a reparations fund.

The resolution was proposed by Ghana, which advocated for this designation, and called for apologies and financial reparations from member states for their role in the slave trade. No specific amount was outlined.

The resolution passed with 123 member states in favour and three opposed, including the United States, Israel, and Argentina. Fifty-two countries abstained from voting, including the United Kingdom and European Union member states.

UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but decisions nevertheless carry substantial political weight. Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (26 March): "This resolution is a pathway to healing and reparatory justice. This resolution is a safeguard against forgetting. This is a resolution of destiny."

“Let it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of the millions who suffered the indignity of slavery.”

Before the vote, Samuel Ablakwa, Ghana's Foreign Minister, told the BBC’s Newsday programme that they are demanding compensation: "We want justice for the victims and causes to be supported, educational and endowment funds, skills training funds."

Between 1500 and 1800, the transatlantic slave trade abducted and sold approximately 12-15 million Africans, transporting them to the Americas and systematically forcing them into slave labour.

The resolution, supported by the African Union and the Caribbean Community, states that the impacts of transatlantic slavery reverberate in racial inequalities and underdevelopment, “affecting Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world”.

Ablakwa told the BBC: "Many generations continue to suffer the exclusion, the racism because of the transatlantic slave trade, which has left millions separated from the continent and impoverished.”

Source: commonspace.eu with BBC and Al Jazeera

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members
Trending

Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members

1 August 2026
​ Two women have emerged as favourite to lead the United Nations as Secretary-General from 1 January 2027, when the term of the present incumbent, Antonio Gutteres, expires. A straw poll of the members of the UN Security Council, held on Thursday, 30 July showed that of the seven candidates, Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica and Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett of Guyana received ten and nine positive endorsements respectively, by the 15 members UN Security Council Although the poll and its result are supposed to be secret, the result leaked within minutes, and was carried on world media outlets, such as Reuters. The result was as follows   Michelle Bachelet 6 encourage 5  discourage   4 no opinion María Fernanda Espinosa 5 2 8 Rafael Grossi 7 2 6 Rebeca Grynspan 10 1 4 Olara Otunnu 2 5 8 Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett 9 2 4 Macky Sall 6 7 2   Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the “Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. Straw polls are informal ballots used to determine the viability of Secretary-General candidates.  The seven current candidates are: Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Chile), who was nominated by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on 2 February, with Chile withdrawing its nomination on 24 March; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), who was nominated by Antigua and Barbuda on 11 May; Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), who was nominated by Argentina on 26 November 2025; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica), who was nominated by Costa Rica on 3 March; Olara Otunnu (Uganda), who was nominated by Uganda on 24 July; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (Guyana), who was nominated by Guyana on 15 June; and Macky Sall (Senegal), who was nominated by Burundi on 2 March. At Thursday's straw poll, there was no difference between the ballots presented to the five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10). Council members received one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate’s name followed by three options: “encouraged”, “discouraged”, and “no opinion expressed”.   It is ofcourse early days, and the straw poll is just an informal indication of the mood of the UN Security Council, but the strong showwing by the two womencandidates may be an indication that for the first time, the head of the UN can be a women. (click image to read more) ​

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov
Trending

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

15 January 2026
Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)
Murad Muradov
Lauri Nikulainen interviews Murad Muradov