Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), His Excellency Edwin Carrington is reminding all Member States that Sunday, 25 March 2007 marks the 200th year since the Proclamation of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and urges them to implement programmes of activities to commemorate this event on Sunday, or during the week beginning 25 March 2007.

The Secretary General is also appealing to the mass media, the church, government ministries, agencies and schools in all Member States to join in a synchronized period of one minute of silence on March 25 at 12 noon, Eastern Caribbean Time, in honour of those who died in the Middle Passage and in resistance to slavery.{{more}}

This is in keeping with the decision of the Eighteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on 12-14 February 2007, to commemorate this historic event with year-long national and regional activities, and in particular the observance of the synchronized period of silence.

Carrington’s appeal also comes against the background of the passage of a Resolution co-sponsored by CARICOM, at the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2006, designating 25 March 2007, as the International Day for the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.

The Secretary General acknowledged and commends the efforts of those States that have started to implement national programmes and urges others, which have not yet initiated plans to follow suit. (Caricom)