The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on March 25, 2026, declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity, according to multiple reports. The resolution is non-binding, but it provided the backdrop for the 'Next Steps Consultative Conference' held in Accra, Ghana. The conference was attended by heads of state and representatives from more than 80 countries, according to the Guardian.

During the event, members of the University of Ghana School of Performing Arts re-enacted the slave trade. President John Dramani Mahama opened the conference and announced the formation of three high-level international committees or panels, according to AllAfrica. Ghana also adopted a 10-point plan to enforce the UN resolution on reparatory justice, according to France24.

The conference issued a declaration calling on countries involved in the Atlantic slave trade to offer full, formal, and unconditional apologies, according to GDELT. African and Caribbean leaders at the conference urged former slave-trading nations to issue apologies and reparations, according to the same source.