– As delivered –
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
25 March 2021
Excellencies,
Last week, I convened a commemorative meeting, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. However, one day a year, is not enough to reconcile the legacy of four centuries of brutality.
Slavery firmly established the stark inequality, that exists around the world today, as the wealthiest took everything from those, who had the least. The transatlantic slave trade, defined our world, and the supremacy that justified it, is not gone for our world.
Families were divided by an ocean, that their loved ones never consented to cross. An ocean, which took the lives of 20% of all captives, on the transatlantic voyage.
Africa robbed of its people, continues to grieve.
Enslaved people, were reduced to chattels: stripped of their freedom, dignity, and identity. Violence replaced autonomy.
Today I remind you that when those around us look away and turn their backs on injustice each of us has a responsibility to step in.
We cannot stand by while the people we serve suffer.
We cannot permit gaslighting.
We cannot shy away from honest discussions about reparatory justice.
Excellencies,
That trauma is hereditary.
Not only do the descendants of the 15 million victims of the transatlantic slave trade, have to grapple with the pain and grief of their ancestors, but every day, they navigate a world, built by them, but not for them.
The enslaved worked stolen lands, raised the children of their abusers, all the while suffering.
And those in the middle, free men and women, who benefited from an Industrial Revolution, which was made possible through slave labour, did not stand up, for the oppressed. They were passive, complicit.
Still today, modern forms of slavery, continue to exist. As of 2016, over 40.3 million people, were estimated to be in modern slavery, 71% of whom, are women and girls. Shockingly, children account, for one in four of those enslaved today.
The COVID-19 pandemic, risks a setback in our common efforts, to end modern slavery, as widespread job losses, rising poverty, the closure of regular migration pathways and reduced scrutiny of labour standards, increased vulnerability, and push more people towards exploitative employment.
When society does not tackle, the inhumane treatment of our fellow human beings, every individual is complicit.
Excellencies,
If we are to defend the Charter of the United Nations, and uphold the rights of the people we have pledged to serve, we need to be vigilant.
Today I remind you, that when those around us look away, and turn their backs on injustice, each of us has a responsibility, to step in.
We cannot stand by while the people we serve suffer.
We cannot permit gaslighting.
We cannot shy away, from honest discussions about reparatory justice.
Here in the General Assembly, we are working on the modalities of the high-level meeting of the 20th commemoration of the Durban Declaration and Programme for Action, and the political declaration; as well as the Permanent Forum on people of African descent.
We will also meet again in May, on the occasion of the mid-term review, of the international decade for people of African descent. I hope that these efforts are conducive, to healing for people of African descent, and the world as a whole.
Excellencies,
We must stand up, for what is right, and learn the lessons of the past.
This global injustice, did not just end, neatly, after 400 years. Laws did not change attitudes. The weight of shackles endures.
Let us continue working towards ending discrimination and slavery in all its forms, and achieving equality and justice for all.
I repeat, what I expressed last week, and let us keep repeating it, until it is understood and internalized by all:
Black. Lives. Matter.
I thank you.
