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COMMEMORATING
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND
THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Global Sustainability Foundation
sponsored Luncheon for the
United Nations
Permanent
Memorial to Honor the Victims of Slavery and the
Transatlantic Slave Trade
The event was hosted
by H.E. Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa,
President of the 69th Session of the United Nations General
Assembly,
with attendance by Permanent Representatives, as well as high-level UN
officials, and representatives of Civil Society and
the Press.
The Permanent
Memorial Committee was established in order to ensure the
fulfillment of the mandate of General Assembly Resolution
63/5 which, inter alia, calls for “…at a place of prominence
at United Nations Headquarters that is easily accessible to
delegates, United Nations staff and visitors, a permanent
memorial in acknowledgement of the tragedy and in
consideration of the legacy of slavery and the transatlantic
slave trade.”
The Committee is
chaired by
H.E. Mr.
Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica,
and is composed of a number of representatives from all
geographical regions, with the Caribbean and African regions
taking a leading role. GSDF’s support of the work of the
Permanent Memorial Committee is part of the Foundation’s
ongoing advocacy for cultural and historic preservation.
The luncheon
provided a platform for donors to publicly pledge
contributions to the Permanent Memorial Project and included
cultural performances.
The winning memorial design,
“Ark of Return,”
which was created by Rodney Leon, a Manhattan-based
architect
of Haitian descent, will be fully installed at the UN next
year.
As indicated by
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon,
“The memorial
will serve
as a reminder of the bravery of those slaves, abolitionists
and unsung heroes who managed to rise up against an
oppressive system, fight for their freedom and end the
practice." Equally important, Ambassador
Rattray
has noted that the permanent memorial “…will
send a powerful message about the need to remain vigilant
about the dangers of racism and racial discrimination
today.”
Through its
sponsorship of this event and its wider support of the
Permanent Memorial Project, the Global Sustainable
Development Foundation endorses the importance of the
memorial as a tool to educate future generations about the
tragedy of racism and racial discrimination, while
simultaneously shining a light on the plight of the 21
million children, women, and men who are still trapped in
modern-day forms of slavery.
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