General Assembly: Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade - 63rd Plenary Meeting, 77th Session

Commemoration of the abolition of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade - Item 122

• Categories: Meetings & Events / General Assembly
• Video Length: 01:54:53
• Production Date: 27 March 2023
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Original; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: GUTERRES, ANTONIO
• Subject Topical: INTERNATIONAL DAYS; SLAVERY; TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
• MAMS Id: 3052338
• Parent Id: 3027272

Description

The scars of slavery are still visible around the world as disparities in wealth, income, health and education, speakers in the General Assembly emphasized, calling for transformative education that acknowledges this history, as well as concrete measures to address the resulting inequalities.

Speaking at the commemorative meeting of the General Assembly to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described the enterprise of enslavement as the largest legally sanctioned forced migration in human history.nbsp;

Governments everywhere should introduce lessons into school curricula on the causes and far-reaching consequences of the transatlantic slave trade, he said. nbsp;Studying the prevailing assumptions and beliefs that allowed the practice of slavery to flourish for centuries can also unmask the racism of modern times. nbsp;And honouring the victims of slavery helps restore some measure of dignity to those who were so mercilessly stripped of it, he added.

Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary), President of the General Assembly, also stressed the importance of education as he highlighted the theme of this year’s commemoration.

Also delivering opening remarks was Djamila Taís Ribeiro, winner of Jabuti Literary Prize 2020, who pointed to the limitations of the common expression “leave the past behind”. nbsp;

The General Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday, 29 March, at 10 a.m. to consider a report by the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, and for a general debate on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict.