A slave uprising in the Caribbean nearly 300 years ago represents a symbolic victory for human rights and freedom.

That’s according to the UN educational and cultural organization, UNESCO, which celebrates the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition annually on 23 August.

The day commemorates the anniversary of the 1791 insurrection by enslaved Africans in the western part of the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo, which led to the creation and independence of what is now Haiti.

Nada Al-Nashif, who is UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, told Liz Scaffidi why the slave trade and its abolition are part of global common heritage.

Duration: 4’58”