President John Dramani Mahama has underscored the significance of a proposed United Nations resolution on slavery.
He described it as a vital step towards healing and reparative justice for millions of affected people worldwide.
Speaking during deliberations at the UN headquarters, President Mahama said the resolution, which seeks to declare the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, offers the global community an opportunity to acknowledge the immense suffering endured over centuries.
According to him, when asked to explain “the importance of the resolution declaring the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity,” he responded without hesitation, stating that the resolution would enable the world to collectively bear witness to the plight of an estimated 18 million men, women and children whose lives, identities and futures were taken during the transatlantic slave trade.
“This resolution allows us, as a global community, to collectively bear witness to the plight of the 18 million men, women, and children whose homes, communities, names, families, hopes, dreams, futures, and lives were stolen from them over the course of four centuries,” he said on Tuesday, March 24.
According to him, the resolution goes beyond historical recognition, serving as a unifying call for solidarity across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the wider diaspora.
He added that it would also act as a safeguard against historical amnesia, ensuring that the atrocities of slavery are neither forgotten nor repeated.
“I speak these words today not only for Ghana, but also in solidarity with the rest of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the wider Diaspora and, indeed, all people of good conscience throughout the world. This resolution is a pathway to healing and reparative justice. This resolution is a safeguard against forgetting.”
Mr Mahama stressed that adopting the resolution would mark a meaningful step towards restoring dignity and advancing justice for descendants and nations affected by the legacy of slavery.
