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Transatlantic Slave Trade

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

For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Map overview of the slave trade out of Africa
Overview of the slave trade out of Africa, 1500-1900. David Eltis and David Richardson, Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade(New Haven, 2010). Click in the image for full display

In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/122 of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually.

The resolution also called for the establishment of an outreach programme to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the "causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice."

Since then, every year on 25 March, the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade has offers the opportunity to honour and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system.

This International Day also aims at raising awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.

More on the Day and its historical background.


Map showing Deportation Flows, 15th-16th Centuries
Map showing Deportation Flows, 17th Century
Map showing Deportation Flows, 18th Century
Map showing Deportation Flows, 19th Century

© UNESCO, The Slave Route map.


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