The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has advocated for economic, social and political equality for African slave descendants all over the world.
Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, in her message on the occasion of International Day for the 2017 Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, said the UN hoped to eradicate the legacy of social injustice of slaves trade and combat racism and racial discrimination.
“By proclaiming the International Decade for People of African Descent , 2015 to 2024, the UN General Assembly hopes to eradicate the social injustice that is a legacy of that history and to combat racism and racial discrimination.
“Freedom of rights, hard-won by force, must be translated into real freedom through public policies that guarantee to people of African descent the full exercise of economic, social and political equality, and full and equal participation in society.
“The 1791 uprising, like so many others across the world, shows us the way, but the path ahead is still long,” Bokova said.
The date Aug. 23 marks the anniversary of the 1791 insurrection of enslaved men and women in the western part of the island of Santo Domingo, which, on proclaiming its independence reverted to its original Amerindian name: Haiti.
“The uprising conveys a universal demand for freedom that transcends all limits of time and space, and speaks to humanity as a whole, without distinction of origin or religion, and continues to resonate now with undiminished force.
“By means of International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, UNESCO aims to recall the crucial importance of the transmission of history in order to shed light on the fight against all forms of oppression and racism today,” she said.
The 1791 uprising triggered a shockwave that has set the course of peoples’ liberation struggles and of human and civil rights movements for over 200 years.
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