Celebrating 23 August, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition “By its decision to proclaim 23 August each year as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, UNESCO sought to pay tribute to the tireless struggle of the slaves for their freedom.

The uprising that took place on the island of Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) during the night of 22 to 23 August 1791 shook the slave system radically and irreversibly and provided the impetus for the process which would eventually lead to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.” Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, 23 August 2002 On 23 August, ASPnet Schools are invited to organize, promote and sustain activities in co-operation with cultural institutes, historians and other specialists and the media, to increase awareness of the slave trade and slavery, its causes and consequences, including modern forms of slavery, to encourage solidarity with the peoples that have suffered because of slavery and to celebrate the African Diaspora. Activities and commemorative events have included visits to exhibitions on the Transatlantic Slave Trade, lectures by historians, pilgrimages to places of memory, theatrical performances by students, 'slave trails' in cooperation with museums, ceremonies of remembrance, disseminating the UNESCO Director-General’s annual message, poetry festivals dedicated to the Slave Trade and its Abolition, seminars lectures and debates.

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Breaking the Silence - the TST Project song (2002) The ASPnet TST Project produced and diffused a CD of the TST project song “Breaking the Silence” in ASPnet schools in 2002, to help schools observe 23 August, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition by integrate the song into TST meetings and other activities at community level, by getting it played on local radio. More

23 August Posters The ASPnet TST Project has produced and diffused posters in ASPnet schools to help schools actively observe 23 August, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. More