UNESCO / Erik Fuller
“我们必须更好地认识、反思和铭记数百万非洲男人、女人、儿童的遭遇。他们被俘虏，被驱逐到美洲，然后被剥削，成为欧洲获取蔗糖、咖啡、靛蓝、棉花的工具。”
——奥德蕾·阿祖莱，联合国教科文组织总干事
拓展阅读：大学教席联盟
为继续增进对相关历史事件及其对当代社会影响的了解，教科文组织还将建立大学教席联盟，汇集来自3大洲的研究人员，重点关注反对种族主义和歧视非裔等优先议题。
自20世纪60年代启动《非洲通史》编撰以来，教科文组织便开创了非洲大陆及其与奴隶制相关苦难的新叙事研究。该多卷本著作汇集230余位历史学家，至今仍是学术研究的权威参考。第9卷已于2023年出版。
教科文组织还致力于奴隶制纪念地的认定与保护工作。例如，塞内加尔的戈雷岛以及牙买加的蓝山和约翰克罗山脉已被列入《世界遗产名录》，成为当地重要的教育与传承场所。
UNGA: UNESCO creates a twinning network for sites and museums of memory of slavery
On the United Nations General Assembly, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, announced the creation of a network twinning places of memory and museums of slavery in Africa, the Americas and Europe. It will help facilitate knowledge-sharing and intercultural dialogue.
"We must better recognize and remember the millions of African men, women and children who were captured, deported to the Americas and then exploited to supply Europe with sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton."
——Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's Director-General on Monday at an event honouring the victims of slavery in New York
As UNESCO celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of its "Routes of Enslaved Peoples" programme, created in 1994 on the initiative of Benin and Haiti, Audrey Azoulay seeks to create fresh impetus for the essential work of remembering and educating future generations about "one of the greatest crimes in the history of humanity, which still affects entire communities".
With the support of Brazil, Colombia, Congo, France, Jamaica and the Netherlands, UNESCO will set up a twinning network for sites and museums of memory of slavery in Africa, the Americas and Europe. It will create opportunities for interaction and cooperation between people on either side of the Atlantic, in the form of festivals and events, school exchanges and virtual visits, and the sharing of best practice between professionals.
By bringing together these historically linked sites, UNESCO hopes to raise their profile among the general public, and promote a better global understanding of the history of slavery, particularly among younger generations. For the same reason, Audrey Azoulay has called on governments "to give greater prominence to the history of slavery in school textbooks and curricula".
Read more: An alliance of university chairs
To continue to advance knowledge of these historical events and their impact on contemporary societies, UNESCO will also be setting up an alliance of university chairs. It will bring together researchers from the three continents to focus on priority issues such as the fight against racism and discrimination against people of African descent.
Since the 1960s, UNESCO has pioneered the search for a new narrative on the African continent and the suffering associated with slavery, writing the General History of Africa. This multi-volume work, which involved more than 230 historians, continues to be a benchmark in scientific research. The 9th volume was published in 2023.
UNESCO also works to recognize and protect places of memory of slavery, as demonstrated by the inclusion of Senegal’s Gorée Island, and Jamaica’s Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains on the World Heritage List. Today, these are important places of education for local communities.
