Algiers Declaration Proclaims November 30th as Africa’s Tribute Day for Colonization Victims

The Algiers Declaration called on Monday for the proclamation of November 30th as the “African Day of Tribute to the Martyrs and Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Colonization, and Apartheid,” based on a proposal made by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The participants in the International Conference on Colonial Crimes in Africa said they were drawing on the proposal of the Algerian President, “which aims to establish an African Day of Tribute to the Martyrs and Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Colonization, and Apartheid.”

They suggested “November 30th, the opening day of the Algiers Conference, as the date for this commemoration,” expressing their “heartfelt gratitude” to the Algerian President for his initiative in organizing the Algiers Conference, while “warmly thanking the Algerian government and people for their fraternal welcome and the resources mobilized to ensure the full success of this major event.”

“The Algiers Declaration is an essential step toward the acknowledgment of colonial crimes and represents a practical means of providing Africa with sustainable mechanisms for preserving memory, truth, justice, and reparation, in order to ensure a just, prosperous, and dignified future for generations to come,” the text stated.

The Algiers Declaration will be submitted to the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Conference of Heads of State and Government in February 2026 for approval as the “first continental step toward the criminalization of colonialism in all its forms and the pursuit of restorative justice,” the signatories of the document noted.