International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is a United Nations (UN) international observance designated in 2007 to be marked on 25 March every year.
The day honours and remembers those who suffered and died as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade, which has been called "the worst violation of human rights in history", in which over 400 years more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims."International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade 25 March", United Nations.
History It was first observed in 2008 with the theme "Breaking the Silence, Lest We Forget"."International Day of Remembrance of Slavery Victims and the Transatlantic Slave Trade", timeanddate.com. The theme of 2015 was "Women and Slavery". The International Day also "aims at raising awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today".
With 2015 marking the start of the UN's International Decade for People of African Descent, a permanent memorial was unveiled at the UN headquarters in New York,"Unveiling of the Permanent Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade at the United Nations", UNESCO, 26 March 2015. entitled "The Ark of Return""The Ark of Return: Lest We Forget", YouTube. and designed by Haitian-American architect Rodney Leon, who also designed the African Burial Ground National Monument.Robert Bernstein, "The Arc of Return: The UN Unveils 'The Permanent Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade'", Island Voice, 1 April 2015.
In 2026, on the occasion of the International Day, the United Nations General Assembly approved a United Nations Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity (UNDOTEA).
See also History of slavery International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition United Nations Slavery Memorial United Nations Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent International Decade for People of African Descent Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery
References
External links
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on the United Nations Population Fund website