Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says Denmark has pledged resources to support the restoration of Ghana’s castles and forts as part of growing international cooperation on the country’s reparatory justice agenda.
According to Ablakwa, the commitment is among the developments recorded since the adoption of a Ghana-led resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, 2026.
Speaking ahead of President John Dramani Mahama’s engagements at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ablakwa said the restoration of the historic sites would contribute to preserving Ghana’s history and promoting remembrance and truth-telling.
“Denmark has pledged resources to restore our castles and forts, and that is significant because it will help in remembrance, in truth-telling, and in making sure that humanity never again repeats that dark era of our history,” he said.
Ablakwa said the development forms part of a broader international response to Ghana’s push for reparatory justice following the landmark UN resolution on the transatlantic enslavement of Africans.
He said the resolution had helped to build a wider global coalition, including countries that abstained from the vote and some that initially voted against it.
“Since the landmark UN resolution, we are seeing a lot of global coalition, even the countries that abstained from the vote and those who voted against, the three that voted against. We are seeing one of the countries that voted against come on board,” he said.
The Minister also disclosed that the Netherlands and Germany have pledged to return more than 2,000 artifacts that were looted from Ghana.
“Since the adoption of the landmark UN resolution, the Netherlands and Germany have pledged to return over 2,000 artifacts that were looted from Ghana,” Ablakwa said.
The developments follow President Mahama’s convening of the Next Steps Conference in Accra after the UN resolution, where major pledges were made towards advancing the reparatory justice agenda.
President Mahama is currently in New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where Ghana is continuing its advocacy on reparatory justice and the historical legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.
