Momentum is building internationally for Ghana’s push to secure formal recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity, with prominent figures and nations rallying behind the initiative.
U.S. civil rights activist Al Sharpton has thrown his full support behind the campaign led by President John Dramani Mahama, adding to earlier backing from Brazil.
Brazil’s endorsement was announced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during discussions with Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, at the CELAC-Africa Summit in Colombia.
The growing support comes ahead of President Mahama’s planned presentation of a landmark resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, 2026. The resolution seeks to declare the transatlantic slave trade and the racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
As part of his engagements, President Mahama will also lead a high-level event on reparatory justice at the UN Headquarters in New York, bringing together global leaders to address the enduring legacy of slavery and the need for redress.
He is further expected to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the African Burial Ground National Monument in honour of enslaved Africans.
The initiative is seen as a significant step in advancing global conversations on historical injustice, with advocates arguing that formal recognition is essential to achieving meaningful reparatory justice.
