International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Commemorative meeting to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Held pursuant to General Assembly resolution A/RES/73/345 of 16 September 2019. The United Nations General Assembly will convene its annual plenary meeting to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade . Speakers will include the President of the 80th Session of the General Assembly, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock; the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres; a keynote speaker and a youth speaker; regional groups and representatives of Member States. Watch the General Assembly: 75th plenary meeting, 80th session - International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade! Related Sites and Documents: Website  &  2026 Remembrance Program

Press briefing by AU / Africa Group, led by Ghana, on the proposed resolution to be tabled and considered in the GA on Wednesday, 25th March during the GA commemorative event marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade . Watch the African Group at UN Briefs Media Ahead of Landmark UN Resolution on Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity! 00:47:53

 High-level special event, taking place a day before the annual commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade , to discuss reparatory justice for the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel Enslavement of Africans Watch the High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice for the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and the Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans! Live Meetings & Events enslavement of Africans

Slavery has existed since the beginning of civilizations where the growth of cultivation and warfare brought about injustices that allowed the unfortunate possibility to abduct and keep men, women and children as slaves for domestic, laborious, agricultural, entertainment, or sexual services. It should be noted that many despised slave-owning and attempts were made to free slaves, for instance, the Essenes and the Therapeutae1. Slave trading , particularly in the Mediterranean region (around 1000 – 1500 CE) became big business and thousands of slaves served a variety of purposes and services. Since, slave trading bore no barriers and spread to other regions of the world. The Triangular trade was an international network linking the economies of the Americas, Africa, and Europe and transported approximately 25 to 30 million enslaved men, women, and children. The Transatlantic slave trade itself moved approximately 15 to 18 million captive slaves, excluding the millions that died en ro...

Transatlantic trade began around the end of the 15th century upon Portuguese conquest across the Atlantic Ocean, which was followed by the Spanish as well as Christopher Columbus’ Caribbean conquest. However, the transatlantic slave trade was like no other, considering: 1.) its scale and duration, 2.) the victimization of slaves who were black African men, women, and children, and 3.) the “intellectual legitimization attempted on its behalf” consisting of an anti-black ideology and the legalization of such an organization. Considered as the first “system of globalization” this particular slave trade covered Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean making it one of the largest deportations in history with significant world economic implications. Notwithstanding, it was also considered by many, such as French historian Jean-Michel Deveau, as one of “ the greatest tragedies in the history of humanity in terms of scale and duration ”.   In the Amer...

The Middle Passage was the journey from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies lasting about three to four months. It would be one of the most arduous expeditions as it also served to erase the captive slave ’s “sense of human dignity” as they were chained and shackled and forced to lay down in rows, “spoonways”, or on shelves across the ship. Furthermore, they were systematically dehumanized. Before boarding, the captives were stripped of any “physical connections ” with their past and this would continue aboard the slave trading ships along the “Middle Passage”. “ At last, when the ship we were in, had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. … The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome…. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scar...