President John Mahama has set up three global panels to push forward the next phase of the landmark United Nations resolution that declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.

The announcement came on Thursday at the opening of the High-Level Consultative Conference on the Next Steps to the UN Resolution A/RES/80/250, being held in Accra. The two-day meeting brings together heads of state, legal experts, and activists to figure out what happens next after the historic vote.

Here are the three panels:

  • Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice – made up of heads of state and government, eminent leaders, and public figures to provide strategic guidance. Members include President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr of Liberia, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados.
  • Expert Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Artefacts – will support the return of cultural properties, archives, sacred objects, and historical treasures to their rightful communities.
  • Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice – brings together distinguished jurists and legal scholars to explore legal pathways consistent with international law, human dignity, and justice.

President Mahama said the CARICOM 10-point plan would serve as an important starting point for the work of these panels. The plan, adopted by Caribbean nations, calls for things like a formal apology, debt cancellation, and investment in health and education.

Mahama recalled that on 25 September 2025, he stood before the UN General Assembly and announced Ghana's intention to introduce the resolution. Exactly six months later, on 25 March 2026, the UN adopted it with 123 member states voting in support.

"I express profound appreciation to all 123 member states and the many institutions, scholars, civil society organisations, faith leaders, activists, and advocates who made this adoption possible," the President said.

He added: "For Ghana, this effort isn't just an exercise in diplomacy. It's a moral obligation rooted in our history, identity, and responsibility. We don't seek to reopen old wounds. We seek to heal those wounds. We don't seek division. We seek justice, understanding, and reconciliation grounded in truth."

Mahama noted that few places in the world bear such vivid physical testimony to this history as Ghana. From Elmina and Cape Coast to Assin Manso and Osu, Ghana's land holds visible reminders of a system that uprooted millions.

"Today, the descendants of those journeys have returned, not in chains, but as presidents, prime ministers, scholars, jurists, activists, historians and citizens of the world," he said.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia paid tribute to those who endured unimaginable suffering and their descendants who continue to seek justice. She reaffirmed Namibia's commitment to restorative justice, noting that the country's pursuit of justice regarding the genocide committed against the Ovaherero and Nama communities between 1904 and 1908 forms part of the broader African journey towards historical recognition and accountability.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in a televised address, warned against reducing reparations for slavery to mere financial compensation. He said justice must also encompass truth-telling, education, memorialisation, and restitution.

Other world leaders attending the Accra summit include Prime Minister Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua of Equatorial Guinea, President Carlos Vila Nova of São Tomé and Príncipe, and Speaker of the Algerian Parliament Azouz Nasri.

The conference aims to reinforce the historic step taken by the international community to recognise the enduring legacy and global consequences of the enslavement of Africans.