International Day for the Remembrance
of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition .
The Executive Board,
1. Bearing in mind 20 C/Resolution 4/1.2/7 in which the General Conference invited the Director- General to provide moral and material assistance towards the organization, each year, of a Black Peoples’ Day,
2. Recalling 27 C/Resolution 3.13 in which the General Conference approved the implementation of the intercultural and interregional project entitled "The Slave Route",
3. Recalling also 28 C/Resolution 5.11 on the slave route and the proposal for the establishment at international level of remembrance of the slave-trade,
4. Further recalling that 23 August 1791 was the day on which the slaves of Saint-Domingue and Haiti rose up in rebellion, thus taking the first step towards the abolition of the slave-trade,
5. Noting with interest the support expressed for the UNESCO Slave Route project by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) at its twenty-eighth summit at Dakar in June 1992,
6. Endorses the general approach and conception proposed by the Director-General in document 150 EX/32 concerning the objectives and the programme for the establishment of the remembrance;
Recommends that the General Conference:
(a) proclaim 23 August of every year 'International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition'; and
(b) submit to the United Nations General Assembly a request that all United Nations Member States take part in this remembrance.Breaking the Silence: Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project
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.The ASPnet Transatlantic Slave Trade (TST) Project was launched in 1998 to break the silence surrounding the Transatlantic Slave Trade and to enable young people to fully comprehend the past, understand the present and prepare a better future together in a world free of all types of stereotypes, enslavement, injustice, discrimination and prejudice.
The TST project aims to improve the teaching of history by telling the whole story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The project emphasizes the significance of the TST, the suffering it caused and its social, cultural and economic impact on the Atlantic world.
It is the first international endeavour to mobilize schools in Africa, the Americas / Caribbean and Europe to develop new educational approaches while promoting an intercultural dialogue between young people.
The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Programme of Study
Rationale
> The conceptual design of this programme of study has been guided by a particular view of the nature of history as a discipline and of the educational and cultural needs of students.
> The methods of studying history as a multidisciplinary exercise have determined the aims and objectives stated in the programme of study.
> The importance of teaching about the TST in schools as a major historical event has not been sufficiently recognised. The assumption of this programme of study is this: through a coherent and comprehensive examination of the subject students should come to an understanding of the enormous historical magnititude and significance of the contribution of African people to the modern world.
> As a major tragic event in the rise of modernity, the TST has led to the formation of diasporas throughout the Atlantic world. It is necessary to inculcate among young people a deep appreciation of the positive and negative aspects of this historic episode and the resultant social processes in the development of the industrial age.
> The course of study is designed to enable students obtain not only a sense of the moral aspects of this tragic development, but to understand the significant achievements of dispersed African peoples in the making of Atlantic modernity – particularly with respect to Europe and the Americas.
> A detailed analysis of the various aspects of the ‘trade in humans’ can lead to meaningful comprehension and evaluation of the contributions of African peoples to the cultural, social, economic, and political making of what is now described as the ‘West’.
> Students will acquire objective and scientific knowledge to facilitate an understanding of the attitudes, values and mentalities that shaped institutions and social relations in the ‘West’ as part of the Atlantic world.
> Through the multidisciplinary study of the evidence, the education process will also contribute to the redressing of the academic imbalance that exists in respect to teaching and learning about this historical episode and process.
General Aims
* To enable students to locate the TST as a major element in the emergence of the modern world.
* To enable students to understand the historical importance and the contemporary significance of the TST.
* To develop in students a knowledge and understanding of intercultural links particularly in reference to the shaping of new social identities.
* To encourage students to develop positive learning values and attitudes which would be of benefit to themselves and society at large.
* To encourage students to develop a deep sense of social duty, moral responsibility, and commitment to social justice in all aspects of life.
* To assist students whose societies have been significantly affected by the trade to develop positive pedagogical responses.
* To assist students who are descendants of victims of the TST to develop and nurture positive pedagogical responses that may support their right to equitable social inclusion where there continues to be exclusion.
Specific Aims
*To prepare students to develop an interest in the advance study of the TST in order to generate significant research and new knowledge for the future.
* To empower present and future students with new and innovative resource materials and participation in academic and cultural activities that will facilitate the sustainability of intercultural dialogue and research.
* To create, by means of project work, a catalyst for the bonding of students, teachers, and technology experts, communicators, non-governmental organisations, government officials, and other supportive persons and agencies.
General Learner Objectives
* Student should participate in intercultural exchange, and seek to develop greater sensitivity and awareness with respect to the history and legacies of the TST.
* Student should seek to acquire the research skills and attitudes necessary for the multidisciplinary study of the TST.
* Students, teachers, and the community should seek to recognise, and promote the preservation of, historic sites, artifacts and other materials and non-material representation that were part of this historic process.
Specific Learner Outcomes
Students will be able to:
1) Develop and evaluate the historical records, ideas and values relevant to the TST.
2) Conduct independent research, pose crucial questions and offer innovative explanations with respect to the consequences and legacies of the TST.
3) Produce and communicate conclusions of historical inquiry in the format of essays, projects, community-based activities, class/community presentations, and other multimedia forms.
4) Develop autonomous and critical opinions with respect to the future world, based upon knowledge acquired and produced.
5) Contribute towards the creation of new ideas, values, ethics, and mentalities that will facilitate intercultural dialogue, tolerance, peace, human rights, solidarity, justice and equity.
Content Organisation
The programme of study is modular in structure. Each module, or theme, represents an aspect of the TST that is necessary for its full multidisciplinary examination. While these themes are organised in a fashion that suggests some degree of chronology, no rigidity is ncessary for effective delivery.
Eight themes are organised into modules that cover the period in African History before the TST to the rise of post slavery African diaspora communities throughout the Atlantic World.
Learning Modules
1) Study of Africa in world history before the TST
i) examination of social, economic, political, and cultural life before the European trade encounter with West Africa, with reference to African contributions to world history
ii) origins of the TST; its historical context, geography, ideological preparation, and intellectual and scientific rationalisations
2) Participants in the TST
i) promoting agents, trade companies, financial institutions, civic organisations, political representatives, and individuals.
ii) description of various interests, and ideological explanations iii) morality/immorality discourse 3) Magnitude and organisation of the TST i) methods of recruitment ii) volume, and methods of calculation
4) Middle passage as a journey:
i) general conditions of captivity, before, during, and after the Atlantic passage; social, physical, and psychological context
ii) punishments, mortality and survival
iii) technology (e.g. ships and chains)
iv) sex and gender issues
5) Financial and Commercial organisation
i) methods and instruments of trade
ii) viability and profitability
iii) relationship to economic growth and modernisation
6) Resistance to the TST
i) before, during, and after the passage
ii) among peoples in Africa, the Americas and Europe
7) The negative and positive impact of the TST; economic, political, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions
i) on Africa
ii) on Europe
iii) on the Americas
8) The contemporary legacies of the TST:
i) enduring racial practice and supportive ideologies; aspects of European intellectual and scientific history and culture
ii) persistent ethnic tension and discord
iii) uses of history in the searches for justice, peace and tolerance
iv) contested history; new historical writing; and the politics of organised memory
ASSESSMENT METHODS
Students are expected to communicate conclusions of historical research and discussion in multiple formats; including written texts, projects, classroom and community presentations, exhibitions, oral narratives, and multimedia forms. Assessments may take several forms, including written, oral, or multimedia examinations.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
Written texts will be provided to accompany this programme of study. Core resource materials will be presented in two forms:
1) A general text:
- The Transatlantic Slave Trade A Student Guide
2) A collection of documents written and narrated by slaves that detail their own experiences:
- Slave Voices: The Sounds of Freedom
These materials should be used in conjunction with other multimedia texts that are available. Print materials should be illuminated by the use of visual displays, such as visits to museums, exhibitions and historical sites. They should also be studies in conjunction with oral history sources.Teaching About THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Teachers play a central role in raising awareness and teaching about the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This was confirmed by the report of the independent evaluation of the ASPnet TST education project, carried out by the University of Hertfordshire in 2002. It underlined the importance of teacher training and the availability of relevant teaching material in ensuring a quality education for all.
This text, by Doctor Ival Melville-Myers, Curriculum Co-ordinator (Trinidad & Tobago), presents a selection of multidisciplinary approaches and activities that can be undertaken by teachers within the framework of the TST project, and hopefully adopted or adapted by a wider audience.The International Task Force of the ASPnet TST Education Project
The International Task Force of the ASPnet TST Education Project is composed of historians and other specialists who advise and guide UNESCO on the implementation of the ASPnet“Breaking the Silence” Transatlantic Slave Trade (TST) Education Project, The Fifth International Task Force Meeting of the ASPnet TST Education Project was held in Bridgetown, Barbados on 5 December 2003. The main objectives of the meeting were to review recent results and make proposals for activities in 2004 and 2005.
UNESCO Aspnet Transatlantic Slave Trade (Tst) Education Project TST International Task Force
>Professor Hilary Macdonald Beckles Pro-Vice Chancellor University Of The West Indies, Kingston Jamaica
>Professeur Jean-Michel Deveau Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Nice France
>Ms Mari Hareide Secretary-General Norwegian National Commission For UNESCO, Oslo Norway
>Professeur Elisée Soumonni Université Nationale Du Bénin Cotonou Benin Professor Sylvia Frey
>Professor of History Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana United States Of America
>Sr Nilson Acosta Reyes Consejo Nacional De Patrimonio La Habana, Cuba
>Dr Victor Benjie Owhotu Department of Curriculum Studies, University Of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria
>Professor James Walvin Department of History University Of York York United Kingdom
>Professor Carlos Macchili Rector, Universidade Pedagógica, Maputo MozambiqueThe TST and the Indian Ocean Project
A similar Project to the TST has been launched through ASPnet for countries in the Indian Ocean.
Following regional workshops in La Réunion (September 1999) and South Africa (April 2001), historians, experts and ASPnet National Co-ordinators and teachers from the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, La Réunion, the Seychelles, South Africa and Tanzania took part in a pedagogical workshop on “Learning about our Common Past to Build a Peaceful Future” and to plan the next stage of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade Education Project in Maputo, Mozambique, March 2004.The Slave Route
The "Slave Route", is an Intercultural project administered, co-ordinated and monitored by the UNESCO Department of Intercultural Dialogue and Pluralism for a Culture of Peace.
Ignorance or concealment of major historical events constitute 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.Transatlantic Slave Trade
The transatlantic slave trade is unique within the universal history of slavery for three main reasons:
* its duration - approximately four centuries
* those vicitimized: black African men, women and children
* the intellectual legitimization attempted on its behalf - the development of an anti-black ideology and its legal organization, the notorious Code noir.
As a commercial and economic enterprise, the slave trade provides a dramatic example of the consequences resulting from particular intersections of history and geography. It involved several regions and continents: Africa, America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Indian Ocean.
The transatlantic slave trade is often regarded as the first system of globalization. According to French historian Jean-Michel Deveau the slave trade and consequently slavery, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century, constitute one of "the greatest tragedies in the history of humanity in terms of scale and duration".
The transatlantic slave trade was the biggest deportation in history and a determining factor in the world economy of the 18th century. Millions of Africans were torn from their homes, deported to the American continent and sold as slaves.
Triangular Trade
The transatlantic slave trade, often known as the triangular trade, connected the economies of three continents. It is estimated that between 25 to 30 million people, men, women and children, were deported from their homes and sold as slaves in the different slave trading systems. In the transatlantic slave trade alone the estimate of those deported is believed to be approximately 17 million. These figures exclude those who died aboard the ships and in the course of wars and raids connected to the trade.
The trade proceeded in three steps. The ships left Western Europe for Africa loaded with goods which were to be exchanged for slaves. Upon their arrival in Africa the captains traded their merchandise for captive slaves. Weapons and gun powder were the most important commodities but textiles, pearls and other manufactured goods, as well as rum, were also in high demand. The exchange could last from one week to several months. The second step was the crossing of the Atlantic. Africans were transported to America to be sold throughout the continent. The third step connected America to Europe. The slave traders brought back mostly agricultural products, produced by the slaves. The main product was sugar, followed by cotton, coffee, tobacco and rice.
The circuit lasted approximately eighteen months. In order to be able to transport the maximum number of slaves, the ship’s steerage was frequently removed. Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, England and France, were the main triangular trading countries.Trade in the Indian Ocean
The societies of the Indian Ocean, including Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles, came into being at different times through ancient slave trades and the migrations of populations from Africa, Asia and Europe.
The system of slavery had existed in the islands of the Indian Ocean since before colonization, particularly in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, where slaves were brought by Swahili traders from the east coast of Africa.
The arrival of Europeans to the Indian Ocean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries heralded the start of a revitalized slave trade, which led to the population and exploitation of the Mascarene Islands. Thus, the system of slavery severed millions of people from their roots and ultimately gave rise to a new society. For example, new oral traditions developed throughout the period of slavery as slaves were forbidden to read and write up to the time of the abolitions. Furthermore, the suppression of slavery did not propagate the end of social discrimination as servility persisted through alternative forms of servitude such as recruiting, day-labouring and share-cropping.
The Oral Tradition
UNESCO’s research program to identify and register the oral memory of the islands of the south-western Indian Ocean, working from within the framework of the Slave Route Project, has brought to the fore the need to safeguard the oral heritage of the islands that have experienced the slave trade and slavery.
Additionally, UNESCO’s programme to trace oral memory has generated growing interest in the preservation of memory among populations effected by the trade. As such, the University of Mauritius, the Nelson Mandela Centre, the Seychelles National Institute of Education, the Abro in Rodrigues and the CNDRS in the Comoros each launched documentary programmes in 2001 and 2002. These programmes are continuing with both inventory and field training activities. Documents have been digitalized and stored in the national institutions of the islands and may be accessed by the general public.
An Inventory of Sites of Memory in the Indian Ocean Region
The programme to identify and catalogue the oral heritage, developed over three years in collaboration with UNESCO, has achieved significant results in the Indian Ocean region (Reunion, the Comoros Islands, Mauritius and Rodrigues, the Seychelles Islands and Madagascar). It is now possible to envision the drafting of an exhaustive list of all sites linked to the memory of the slave trade. The programme must take into account the specificity of the slave trade in the region such as its development over a thousand years, and its continuation after the legal abolition of slavery under the guise of recruiting. It involved not only the African continent but also the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as the places relative to marooning. In this respect, the data collected on the oral heritage should provide information to help carry out the listing of the sites and places of memory.
Some of the islands of the Indian Ocean, such as Reunion, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, have already registered some of the sites linked to the slave trade. The project, which will be implemented during the 2006-2007 biennium, will begin by listing sites in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, as they have not yet established an exhaustive list of their sites and places of memory.
The project will be coordinated by the UNESCO Chair after a regional scientific committee has been established. The committee is to be supported by local authorities as well as regional scientific institutions and academia
Underwater archaeology
The project entitled l'Utile...1761, Esclaves oubliés (Forgotten slaves) includes a component for underwater archaeological research on a slave ship that sank off the coast of Tromelin Island, abandoning its cargo of slaves from Madagascar on the island.Slave Trade in the Arab-Muslim World
The international seminar on "Cultural interactions generated by the slave trade and slavery in the Arab-Muslim World" has been organized by UNESCO (17-19 May 2007, Rabat and Marrakech, Morocco) in the framework of the Slave Route Project, in cooperation with the Moroccan National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO Office Rabat.
This international encounter aimed to reinforce the activities of the project in lesser-studied regions, in particular the Arab–Muslim World.
The Colloquium brought together experts from sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb and the Middle East, selected on the basis of their expertise and experience in issues related to the slave trade and slavery in this part of the world.Resistances and abolitions
The first fighters for the abolition of slavery were the captives and slaves themselves, who adopted various methods of resistance throughout their enslavement, from their capture in Africa to their sale and exploitation on plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean. Rebellion and suicide were often used as main forms of resistance.
The American colonies were frequently disrupted by slave revolts, or the threat of revolt. The administrators of the British and French colonies in the 1730’s observed that a "wind of freedom" was blowing in the Caribbean, thereby indicating the existence of a veritable resistance to slavery. This was to materialize some 50 years later with the slave rebellion in Santo-Domingo.
As early as the late seventeenth century, individuals, as well as the various abolitionist societies that had been established, began condemning slavery and the slave trade. This impetus essentially originated from the English-speaking countries. Up until the end of the nineteenth century British, French and North American abolitionists devised a set of moral, religious and occasionally economic arguments as a means of combating the slave trade and slavery.
An irreversible process
The destruction of the slavery system began in the French colony of Santo Domingo towards the end of the eighteenth century. This long-running process (PDF) lasted until 1886 in Cuba and 1888 in Brazil. The slave rebellion on Santo Domingo in August 1791 profoundly weakened the Caribbean colonial system, sparking a general insurrection that lead to the abolition of slavery and the independence of the island. It marked the beginning of a triple process of destruction of the slavery system, the slave trade and colonialism.
Two outstanding decrees for abolition were produced during the nineteenth century: the Abolition Bill passed by the British Parliament in August 1833 and the French decree signed by the Provisional Government in April 1848. In the United States, the Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, extended the abolition of slavery to the whole Union in the wake of the Civil War in 1865. The abolition of slavery – which at the time concerned approximately 4 million people - became the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.Commemorations
Various Days offer the International Community the occasion to meet on the issue of slave trade and slavery. They provide the necessary
opportunity for a memory duty on this sad page of our history, in order to honour all the victims of four centuries of human tragedy, but also those who opposed and triumphed over this “crime against humanity”.
These commemorative days serve to deepen the reflexion on the contemporary consequences of this tragedy and its implications in our society today, namely racism and racial discrimination, intolerance, but also all the modern forms of slavery, of exploitation and of human bondage.
* International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade (25 march) The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed on 17 December 2007 Resolution A/RES/62/122 adopting the 25 March as the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade. The goal of this commemoration is to focus on the 400 years that lasted transatlantic slave trade as well as its long term consequences in the world.
* International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and of its Abolition (23 August) As an answer to the growing interest to and expectations generated by the launching in 1994 of The Slave Route Project, UNESCO’s General Conference, by its Resolution29/C40, proclaimed the 23 August International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and of its Abolition.
Restating historical facts, development of international solidarity, promotion of tolerance and human rights by a mobilization and implication of all stakeholders (Member States, International organizations and Non Governmental Organisations, civil society and private sector), constitute the major stakes ahead this celebration
This date symbolises the fact that slaves were the principal actors of their freedom. Effectively, the insurrection that occurred in Saint Domingue (today Republic of Haiti and Dominican Republic), in the night of 22 to 23 August 1971, irremediably affected slavery system. This revolt was the start point to the transatlantic slave trade abolition process. Besides, this date pays tribute to the historic resistance that leaded to the creation of the first black independent State, the Republic of Haiti.
* International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December)
The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, recalls the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (Resolution 317(IV)) of 2 December 1949).
* International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (2004)
By its Resolution 57/195, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2004 International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition. This Year marked the bicentenary and the creation of the first black State, Haiti. This country symbolises the struggle and resistance of slaves that enabled the triumph of principles of freedom, equality, dignity and individual’s rights. This commemoration has also provided an avenue for a fraternal gathering between Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas.Modern forms of slavery
Human trafficking can be defined as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation." (UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons)
While the means through which modern and traditional forms of slavery have operated differ greatly, the violation of human rights and human dignity are central issues in both practices, such as proclaimed in the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), millions of people, primarily women and children, are subjected to this tragic fate, thus underscoring the imperative of all countries to address and prevent the trafficking of persons.
In the context of the "Project to Fight Human Trafficking in Africa", UNESCO aims to promote effective and culturally appropriate policy-making to combat the trafficking of women and children in Western and Southern Africa. The project conducts policy-oriented research on factors related to the trafficking in pilot countries, collects best practices in fighting trafficking at its roots, and organizes training workshops for policymakers, NGOs, community leaders and the media.
In addition, the Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Project based at the UNESCO Bangkok Office tackles the linked triad of problems-HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and non-traditional drug use-in the Greater Mekong Subregion, by researching, developing, and implementing programmes which crosscut these issues to address the needs of at-risk and vulnerable populations. This project builds on UNESCO’s regional pillar of "extending international protection to endangered, vulnerable and minority cultures and cultural expressions".
Today various international conventions define slavery and human trafficking as a "crime against humanity" punishable by international law.Educational initiatives
Under the Slave Route project, particular importance is ascribed to the development of educational materials that help to improve the teaching about the slave trade and its consequences. Continuing the work initiated under the Associated Schools’ Transatlantic Slave Trade (TST) Education Project, the project has contributed to several initiatives to develop educational/teaching materials on the slave trade and slavery for use by pupils, teachers and the general public.
It has thus contributed to the development of content for primary and secondary school textbooks, in particular in France, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and several African countries. It has also contributed to the publication of two books for young people on the subject: Tell me about… the Slave Trade and L’esclavage raconté à nos enfants (Telling our Children about Slavery).
In cooperation with the UNESCO Office in San José (Costa Rica), work on a series of four educational works entitled From Oblivion to Memory, designed for Central American countries, has begun under the project in order to improve knowledge of the particular features of slavery in that subregion and of the various contributions of people of African descent. The four works have just been published and a popularization drive is under way so that they may be used officially in some Central American countries.
The project is cooperating with the National Maritime Museum in London to produce and disseminate education and information kits on the slave trade and on slavery, for use by students and teachers. The purpose of this programme is to facilitate the teaching of the subject through interesting and documented material.Sources:
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/files/5420/11000948275document_en.pdf/document_en.pdf
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27835&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9442&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29914&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29915&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27966&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27966&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=30088&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=30091&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25659&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27518&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26960&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=37994&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27519&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26958&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=37988&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html