India contributes to UN memorial for slavery victims
By IANSThursday, April 15, 2010
UNITED NATIONS - India has contributed $250,000 to the Trust Fund for the Permanent Memorial to honour the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. India is the largest contributor to this Fund.
A cheque for the amount was handed over by Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Thursday to Amir Dossal, Executive Director, UN Nations Office for Partnerships.
“The contribution reflects India’s firm belief that the international community must pay homage to the victims of slavery and the slave trade, one of mankind’s greatest scars, and acknowledges the tragedy so that such abhorrent practices are not repeated,” the Indian mission said.
Raymond O Wolfe, Permanent Representative of Jamaica and Chairman of the Permanent Memorial Committee as well as Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information were also present at the occasion.
The Trust Fund was launched on May 20, 2009 following the adoption by the General Assembly in May 2007 of the resolution sponsored by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and African Union to commemorate the 200th anniversary of abolition of transatlantic slave trade.
The Trust Fund is raising funds to construct a Permanent Memorial in the lawns of the UN in New York to honour the victims of slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The memorial is expected to be erected by 2012.
