The Slave Route
- Flogging on a slave (1863) © US National Archives
Ignorance or concealment of major historical events constitutes an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation among peoples. UNESCO has thus decided to break the silence surrounding the slave trade and slavery that have affected all continents and have caused the great upheavals that have shaped our modern societies.
The Slave Route Project, launched in Ouidah, Benin, in 1994, has three objectives, namely to:
- contribute to a better understanding of the causes, forms of operation, issues and consequences of slavery in the world (Africa, Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, Middle East and Asia);
- highlight the global transformations and cultural interactions that have resulted from this history; and
- contribute to a culture of peace by promoting reflection on cultural pluralism, intercultural dialogue and the construction of new identities and citizenships.
The project has played a significant role in securing recognition by the United Nations, at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban in 2001, of the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
Drawing on the expertise of an International Scientific Committee, the project deals with various aspects of this human tragedy and is active in the following areas:
• support for scientific research through a network of international institutions and specialists;
• development of educational materials;
• collection and preservation of written archives and oral traditions;
• inventory and preservation of memorial sites and places;
• promotion of living cultures;
• promotion of diverse contributions from the African diaspora;
• promotion of standard-setting instruments for the suppression of slavery.
Director-General Signs Memorandum for Design of Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade
International Workshop on Modern Slavery, Human Rights and Development
The African diaspora in Asia trade routes and cultural memories
Commemoration of the Day of the African Child
Guatemala: Coloquio internacional sobre la inclusion de los Afrodescendientes en América Central y México
Nations Unies: réunion de haut niveau sur le racisme, la xénophobie et l'intolérance
Commemorating The Slave Trade and Slavery as a Crime against Humanity
Musée du quai Branly: "Exposer l’esclavage : méthodologie et pratiques", les 11, 12 et 13 mai 2011
2011 International African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference
The Canadian Association of African Studies Annual Conference 2011: Africa Here; Africa There
Université de La Rochelle: Colloque sur « Les patrimoines de la traite négrière et de l’esclavage », les 27, 28 et 29 avril 2011
Traite, esclavage, et transition vers l’engagisme, à l’île Maurice et aux Mascareignes, 1715-1848
2011, International Year for People of African Descent
Teachers talking about the Transatlantic Slave Trade
21 March 2011: Celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Cuba: Round Table to prepare the XX International Book Fair in the framework of the International Year of People of African Descent
Hommage à Edouard Glissant, décédé le 3 février 2011 à l’âge de 82 ans
Réunion du Comité scientifique international du projet de l’UNESCO La Route de l'esclave
2011, Année des Outre-mer en France
Esclavage : mémoires, héritages et conséquences
The UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana awarded with the Fernando Ortiz International Prize
In Havana XV Workshop on Social Anthropology and African-American Culture
Politics of Memory: Making Slavery Visible in the Public Space
Nova Scotia Celebrates U.N. International Year for People of African Descent
Human Rights Day: 10 December 2010
LES RÉVOLTÉS DE L’HISTOIRE: PROJECTIONS – DEBATS
The Slave Route in Togo: Inventory of Memorial Sites and Places
L'esclavage aux époques médiévale et moderne (XIIIe-XVIIe siècle): Histoire et implications actuelles
Call for Papers "Searching for the African Voice: Studying Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa", Buea, Cameroon, 14 to 16 December, 2010
Observance of the Slavery Abolition Day 2010
Teaching the Transatlantic Slave Trade: an ASPnet online consultation (30 Nov – 14 Dec)
Reines d’Afrique et héroïnes de la diaspora noire
7e édition du Prix FETKANN!
Just Issued in Cuba: Two Books on the African Legacy
Bulambemba: Mémoire de l'esclavage
Teaching African History workshop
Visible/Invisible: Representations of Afro-Argentine Culture in Museums
New Publication: Sitios de Memoria de la Ruta del Esclavo en Argentina, Paraguay y Uruguay