The Gist
The updated Caricom reparations manifesto is a Caribbean-led policy framework, unveiled by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the three-day 'Next Steps' conference in Accra, Ghana on 18–20 June 2026, that demands monetary compensation and formal apologies from enslaving nations for crimes against an estimated 20 million Africans trafficked across the Atlantic — while a parallel 19-point Accra framework was jointly endorsed by the African Union and Caricom as the basis for a united global reparatory justice movement.
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What Happened
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley stepped onto the global stage in Accra delivering an updated Caricom reparations manifesto at the NEXT STEPS 2026 High-Level Consultative Conference — a three-day summit held at Osu Castle in Ghana from June 18 to 20.
Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community, Mottley presented what she described as the "moral, ethical and legal case" for reparatory justice — a strengthened revision of Caricom's existing 10-Point Plan.
The updated manifesto breaks significant new ground. For the first time, it explicitly demands monetary compensation from "enslaving nations, monarchies, churches, institutions, corporations and families" — covering loss of life, uncompensated labour, loss of liberty, personal injury, mental anguish and gender-based violence.
The document notes that women represented approximately 30% of the estimated 20 million Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic, with at least 1.2 million having experienced sexual violence. It also declares climate justice and reparations "inextricably linked" and includes new provisions for Indigenous peoples who survived genocide in the region.
Non-monetary demands include formal apologies, cultural restitution, debt relief, and investment in education and healthcare.
The manifesto still requires formal approval from individual Caribbean governments. The summit produced a 19-point 'Accra Next Steps Commitments' framework, adopted by the African Union and the Caricom Reparations Commission, which will be presented at the next UN General Assembly — ending what Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa called "fragmentation" between African and Caribbean advocacy.
The conference follows a landmark UN resolution passed in March 2026, which recognised the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
• Summit held at Osu Castle, Accra, June 18–20, 2026 • Manifesto is an update of Caricom's existing 10-Point Plan • Monetary compensation demanded from enslaving nations, monarchies, churches, institutions, corporations and families • Women represented approximately 30% of estimated 20 million Africans trafficked; at least 1.2 million experienced sexual violence • 19-point Accra Next Steps Commitments adopted by African Union and Caricom Reparations Commission • Framework to be presented at next UN General Assembly • Manifesto still requires formal approval from Caribbean governments • UN resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as gravest crime against humanity passed March 2026Barbados Prime Minister Announces Manifesto for Slavery Reparations — By the Numbers
The Impact
The Accra summit marks a structural shift in the global reparations movement: for the first time, the African Union and Caricom have adopted a single joint framework, ending what Ghana's foreign minister called 'fragmentation' between African and Caribbean advocacy.
For small island developing states in the Caribbean, the stakes are existential — the updated manifesto explicitly ties reparatory justice to climate financing and sovereign debt relief, two issues that threaten the long-term viability of the region's economies.
"123 nations voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as the gravest crime against humanity; only the US, Israel and Argentina voted against, while 52 countries — including the UK — abstained."
— BBC News, June 2026
Barbados Reparations Manifesto By The Numbers
Estimated number of Africans trafficked across the Atlantic in the transatlantic slave trade, cited in the updated CARICOM reparations manifesto presented by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley as the core population for which reparations are sought.
Women are estimated to have represented about 30% of the 20 million Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic, highlighting gendered dimensions of enslavement and underpinning specific claims for reparations related to gender-based violence.
Within the 30% share, at least 1.2 million African women are estimated to have been forcibly transported across the Atlantic, a figure used in the manifesto to quantify uncompensated labour, loss of liberty, personal injury, mental anguish and gender-based violence affecting women.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on whose behalf Mottley spoke in Accra, comprises 20 member and associate member states that are collectively advancing the reparations agenda and the updated manifesto as a regional policy framework.
The updated manifesto is described by Mottley as a strengthened revision of CARICOM’s existing 10‑Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, which includes measures such as debt cancellation, technology transfer, and public health support; the new Accra text adds explicit demands for monetary compensation and formal apologies.
A parallel 19‑point Accra framework for a united global reparatory justice movement was jointly endorsed by the African Union and CARICOM, providing a structured, multi‑pillar agenda that connects African and Caribbean reparations claims.
The updated Barbados‑announced CARICOM reparations manifesto quantifies the transatlantic slave trade at around 20 million Africans, with a specific focus on the at least 1.2 million women within that population, strengthening the gender‑specific basis for reparations claims.
Reparations advocacy has shifted from a mainly qualitative 10‑Point Plan to an expanded, more explicit framework that now demands monetary compensation and formal apologies from states, monarchies, churches, institutions, corporations and families implicated in slavery.
By aligning CARICOM’s updated manifesto with a jointly endorsed 19‑point Accra framework from the African Union, the initiative elevates reparations from a regional Caribbean demand to a coordinated Africa–Caribbean global movement with clear, structured policy pillars.
C360 View
The Accra summit was not simply another conference. It produced something tangible: a joint African-Caribbean framework backed by more than 80 countries, a Caricom manifesto with strengthened legal grounding, and a clear operational path toward turning declarations into action.
The push for reparatory justice did not begin in Accra. Since 2013, the Caricom Reparations Commission has been building the legal, moral and economic case for repair. The original 10-Point Plan laid the groundwork. Accra has now sharpened it into something with real teeth — explicit monetary demands, a formal link between climate vulnerability and historical exploitation, and overdue recognition of the specific suffering of enslaved women.
The March 2026 UN General Assembly resolution — in which 123 nations recognised the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity — gave the movement its most significant international validation to date. Only the US, Israel and Argentina voted against. The UK was among 52 that abstained.
That abstention now looks harder to sustain. The nations that stayed silent in March must contend with a unified AU-Caricom front at the next General Assembly. As Mottley rightly noted, silence says more about those who remain silent than about those demanding justice.
It is also worth asking where the rest of Caricom has been. Mottley has carried this cause with remarkable consistency and force. The Caribbean community as a whole — its governments, its diaspora, its institutions — need to match her energy if they believe in the cause, not leave it to Barbados alone.
And there is one question the manifesto does not yet answer directly: what of the African nations and kingdoms that sold their own people into slavery? Should they too face a reparations demand — or does the obligation rest only with those who bought, transported and profited from enslaved Africans across the Atlantic? It is an uncomfortable question. But it is one the movement will need to address if it is to withstand serious scrutiny on the world stage.
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