“It is time to abolish human exploitation once and for all and to recognize the equal and unconditional dignity of each and every individual,” Ms. Azoulay said. The Day aims to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.
Details from Ark of Return, the permanent memorial at UN Headquarters, acknowledge the tragedy and consider the legacy of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
‘The fight is not over’
Echoing the goals of UNESCO’s intercultural project The Routes of Enslaved Peoples, it should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, methods, and consequences of this tragedy and for analyzing the interactions it has provoked between Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean, said the UN agency, which leads the annual commemoration.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said that while the Day honors the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, “the fight is not over.” “Modern slavery persists,” she stated. “Let’s confront injustice, past and present, and uphold the dignity and rights of every person.”
The UN works towards these goals, including through its Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery, established in 2007.
Uprising led to abolition
On the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in then Saint Domingue, now Haiti, an uprising began that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Against this background, the International Day is commemorated worldwide. It was first celebrated in several countries, including in 1998 in Haiti and in 1999 on Gorée Island in Senegal, where millions of enslaved people had been forced onto ships to cross the ocean.
“Today, let us remember the victims and freedom fighters of the past so that they may inspire future generations to build just societies,” UNESCO’s Ms. Azoulay said.
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