| "Beyond the act of commemoration,
this International Day aims at eliciting reflection on
a tragic past that may be distant, but whose repercussions
continue to fuel injustice and exclusion today. This reflection
on the barbarity our society is capable of unleashing
with a clear conscience is all the more necessary, salutary
even, as millions of men, women and children still today
suffer the horrors of new forms of slavery. This is how
the remembrance of past tragedies serves to enlighten
us about present-day tragedies of exploitation and dehumanization."
Koïchiro
Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO
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In 1997, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed 23 August the International
Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition,
to be celebrated annually, and requested that all UN Member
States take part in the commemoration. Considering that ignorance
of historical events, such as the slave trade, is in itself
an obstacle to international peace and reconciliation, Member
States felt that an International Day of Remembrance was needed
to increase awareness of the scourge of slavery. A most serious
negation of basic human rights, slavery and the slave trade
must be brought before the conscience of humanity so as never
to be repeated again under any form or circumstance.
The International Day reaffirms the goals of the inter-cultural
project "The Slave Route", offering a further opportunity
for collective consideration of the historic causes, methods
and consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the
interactions between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean,
to which it has given rise. The celebration this year takes
on a particular significance, because 2007 marks the bicentenary
of the Bill passed by the United Kingdom Parliament that abolished
the slave trade in the British colonies in 1807.
Below are the links to UN Chronicle articles on slave trade
and the abolitionist movement, as well as some contemporary
forms of slavery.
Web Articles:
| These stories and more can
be found at UN Chronicle Online at www.un.org/chronicle.
The UN Chronicle is not an official record; the views
expressed in individual articles do not necessarily imply
official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
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