John AdoyiUN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for renewed global action against modern forms of slavery.
She stated this on Saturday as the world observed the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“Today, we honor the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. But the fight is not over. Modern slavery persists. Let’s confront injustice, past and present, and uphold the dignity and rights of every person,” Mohammed said in a statement posted on her official X account.
The commemoration, led annually by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), marks the August 1791 uprising of enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue, present-day Haiti. That revolt proved decisive in the eventual abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The day is intended both to honor victims and freedom fighters and to draw lessons for tackling ongoing human exploitation.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay urged the world to “abolish human exploitation once and for all and to recognise the equal and unconditional dignity of each and every individual.” She said remembrance of the tragedy should inspire societies to pursue justice and equality.
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The UN has worked to preserve this memory and confront its legacy through initiatives such as the Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery, established in 2007, and
UNESCO’s “Routes of Enslaved Peoples” project which promotes education and dialogue.
First commemorated in Haiti in 1998 and on Senegal’s Gorée Island in 1999, the International Day has grown into a global observance with memorials, cultural programs, and educational events held worldwide.
