Africa Day 2026: A Historic Moment of Memory and Unified Strategy

May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. —1 Kings 8:57

by Angelique Walker-Smith

Ahead of Africa Day on May 25, I am reflecting on United Nations Resolution A/80/L.48—entitled “Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity”—which passed on March 25 of this year. The resolution was spearheaded by Ghana, the UN Africa Group, and the African Union—in consultation with the Congressional Black Caucus in the USA and the Caribbean Nations (CARICOM). 

“We come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice,” said Ghana President John Dramani Mahama ahead of the vote on this historic resolution, 

The UN Resolution from African Peoples addresses the question of why African peoples have been and still are disproportionately affected by hunger and poverty. Indeed, the resolution recognizes that “the legacies of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade persist today in the form of structural racism, racial inequalities, underdevelopment, marginalization, and socioeconomic disparities affecting Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world.” 

But the resolution does not simply recognize the economic and structural disparities that stemmed from the period of chattel slavery. It also proposes sixteen recommendations for going forward.

The UN Resolution from African Peoples aligns with the ethos Bread for the World, which recognizes the following:  

• Black Americans overall are experiencing hunger at disproportionate rates; 
• Black children in the United States are more likely to experience hunger than children of other backgrounds; 
• Economic disparities are a major cause of food insecurity among the Black populations in the United States; 
• People throughout Africa are experiencing hunger at disproportionate rates; 
• The main drivers of hunger in Africa include conflicts and climate change.

Bread for the World’s Racial Wealth Gap Simulation—soon to be newly debuted with updates—and the Lament and Hope devotional are resources that address this. 

This UN resolution happens alongside the African Union’s Agenda 2063 for the restoration of Africa’s place in history and the healing of its wounds, including those inflicted by slavery and colonialism. This, as well as the Caribbean Community 10-point plan for reparatory justice and the Congressional Black Caucus’s Black Policy Playbook introduced last year, are all aligned. 

The Playbook targets eight key areas: 

• voting rights
• economic advancement
• workforce
• education
• healthcare
• criminal justice reform
• technology
• global engagement

These focal points are designed with increased oversight of AFRICOM and partnerships with the African continent. The strategy prioritizes building Black wealth, enhancing business, and defending related programs for all.

The historic UN Resolution from African Peoples was bolstered during the Fifth Anniversary of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of Africa Descent, which occurred April 14–17. During the forum, the UN recognized the 60^th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the 25^th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration of Program of Action (DDPA). All of these expressions identify the root causes of why African peoples are disproportionately affected by hunger and poverty and plot a strategic way forward to repair and restoration for and with all of us.