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<\/b><\/p>\n<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice in Action: Confronting History,<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Advancing Dignity, Empowering Futures\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
New York, 25 March 2026<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
[Bilingual, as delivered]<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Today, we reflect on a deep betrayal of human dignity:<\/p>\n
The abduction of millions of Africans, stolen from families and communities they would never see again.<\/p>\n
Their trafficking across the Atlantic, in conditions so cruel one in seven did not survive the journey.<\/p>\n
And their enslavement in the Americas, where generations were brutally exploited for their labour and denied their basic humanity.<\/p>\n
These monstrous acts were the core of a global economic and social order.<\/p>\n
A system born of greed, built on lies, and enforced by violence.<\/p>\n
A system that prevailed for over 400 years \u2014 and haunts our world even now.<\/p>\n
A system that reflected the worst of humanity.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why today is more than a time of remembrance.<\/p>\n
It is a moment to confront the lasting legacies of inequality and racism.<\/p>\n
We will never forget the victims of slavery.<\/p>\n
And we must never forget the malevolent system that sustained it for so long.<\/p>\n
I am thinking of the laws that deprived enslaved people of literacy, autonomy, and humanity.<\/p>\n
The economic, financial, and trade networks that enabled elites and empires \u2014 including my own country \u2014\u00a0to amass wealth built on stolen lives and stolen labour.<\/p>\n
And the barbaric punishments that maintained control \u2014 from shackles and iron collars to flogging and sexual violence.<\/p>\n
This was not simply forced labour.<\/p>\n
It was a machinery of mass exploitation and deliberate dehumanization of men, women and children.<\/p>\n
The wounds run deep \u2014 and often go unrecognized.<\/p>\n
I have often said, the transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities.<\/p>\n
To justify the unjustifiable, slavery\u2019s proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology \u2014\u00a0turning prejudice into a pseudoscience.<\/p>\n
This perverse global order thrived because power acted without conscience.<\/p>\n
We must use\u00a0our<\/i>\u00a0power for better ends.<\/p>\n
By rejecting the false narrative of racial difference and calling out the ugly lie of white supremacy.<\/p>\n
By dismantling its damaging falsehoods \u2014 online, in the media, in schools, at work, in politics, and within ourselves.<\/p>\n
And by working for truth, justice, and repair.<\/p>\n
We recognize the extraordinary courage of the enslaved.<\/p>\n
We honour their determination to be free.<\/p>\n
Their quiet resilience, and their organized resistance.<\/p>\n
Their uprisings and acts of open defiance.<\/p>\n
Their unbreakable human spirit.<\/p>\n
Now we must remove the persistent barriers that prevent so many people of African descent from exercising their rights and realizing their potential.<\/p>\n
We must commit \u2014 fully and without hesitation \u2014 to human rights, equality, and the inherent worth of every person.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the Second International Decade for People of African Descent and the African Union\u2019s Decade of Reparations are significant.<\/p>\n
Let us use them to drive action in three critical areas:<\/p>\n
Eradicating systemic racism.<\/p>\n
Ensuring reparatory justice.<\/p>\n
And accelerating inclusive development, with equal access to education, health, employment, housing, and a safe environment.<\/p>\n
I welcome the steps some countries are taking to apologize for their role in the evil of slavery \u2014\u00a0and to join an honest dialogue about its lasting consequences.<\/p>\n
But far bolder actions \u2014\u00a0by many more States \u2014\u00a0are needed.<\/p>\n
This includes commitments to respect African countries\u2019 ownership of their own natural resources.<\/p>\n
And steps to ensure their equal participation and influence in the global financial architecture and the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n
I urge all Member States to become State Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination if they have not already done it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cJustice in Action: Confronting History, Advancing Dignity, Empowering Futures\u201d \u00a0 New York, 25 March 2026 [Bilingual, as delivered] Today, we reflect on a deep betrayal of human dignity: The abduction of millions of Africans, stolen from families and…","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":44823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[162,77,235,76,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-international-relations","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n