The fifth UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination opened on Thursday morning at the World Forum in The Hague, with the Dutch government putting the legacy of slavery at the centre of its welcome.
Opening the two-day gathering, Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten returned to the national apology for slavery made in 2022. “With this apology we are writing not a full stop, but a comma,” he said, before setting out what has followed: 200 million euros for initiatives related to the history of slavery, and work with affected communities “across the countries of our Kingdom and the former Dutch colonies” on “a national roadmap towards recovery”.
Jetten said 1.6 million people in the Netherlands experience discrimination and racism in their daily lives, and warned that “in more and more places, extreme groups are pushing an agenda filled with hate, both online and in the real world”. He refused to see the moment as “an unavoidable downward spiral”, telling governments they must “render account for our actions and the results we achieve” and “acknowledge that we have blind spots”. The full text of the speech has been published by the Dutch government.
King Willem-Alexander sat in the front row for the opening and afterwards spoke with the American legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw and Suriname's vice-president Gregory Rusland. According to the Dutch news agency ANP, the King recalled his state visit to Suriname last year, where descendants of enslaved people and the Indigenous population offered forgiveness for his ancestors' failure to act against slavery and colonisation.
Oscar winner Viola Davis spoke in the morning's “Champions Against Racism” session. In remarks reported by ANP, she described an epidemic of loneliness, called for more compassion and more philanthropists rather than more billionaires, and said too few people who face discrimination get to tell their own story.
Around 1,500 participants from more than 80 countries are attending, hosted by the Netherlands' National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism, Rabin Baldewsingh, with UNESCO. The theme is “From Commitment to Accountability: Change the System, Change the Future”. Reparatory justice is one of three main themes, and UNESCO is due to present a Reparatory Justice Toolkit, seven months after the UN General Assembly declared the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.
The programme has a strong Caribbean and Black British presence. Ghana's reparations envoy Ekwow Spio-Garbrah and Suriname's Gregory Rusland share a government panel on Thursday; a breakout session on reparatory justice at 15:45 UK time is chaired by Ebony Riddell Bamber with Windrush lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie and academic Leona Vaughn; London's deputy mayor Debbie Weekes-Bernard, barrister ìfé Thompson and former Kick It Out chair Paul Elliott also speak. Ghana's foreign minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa joins a leadership dialogue on reparatory justice on Friday morning, and the forum closes on Friday afternoon with an outcome document.
JAM Radio is following the forum in the live updates below.
Latest updates
- Dutch PM Rob Jetten opened the forum calling the 2022 slavery apology “not a full stop, but a comma”, with €200m for slavery-history initiatives and a “roadmap towards recovery” with the former colonies.
- King Willem-Alexander attended and spoke with Kimberlé Crenshaw and Suriname's vice-president Gregory Rusland, recalling the forgiveness he received in Suriname last year.
- Viola Davis called for compassion and “more philanthropists, not more billionaires”.
- Still to come: the reparatory justice breakout at 15:45 UK, and Friday's leadership dialogue with Ghana's foreign minister.
Watch the forum live
By JAM Editorial TeamUNESCO is streaming the forum live from the World Forum in The Hague. Watch Day 1 here.
Prefer YouTube? Open the Day 1 livestream. Day 2 is on Friday: Day 2 livestream.
The reparatory justice breakout, with Windrush lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie, is at 15:45 UK time.
The King recalls Suriname's forgiveness in talks with Crenshaw and VP Rusland
By JAM Editorial TeamAfter the opening speeches King Willem-Alexander met a small group of participants, among them the American legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality, and Suriname's vice-president Gregory Rusland.
According to the Dutch news agency ANP, the King looked back on his state visit to Suriname last year, which he described as emotional, including rituals on the Suriname River. During that visit descendants of enslaved people and the Indigenous population offered forgiveness for his ancestors' failure to act against slavery and colonisation.
Host Rabin Baldewsingh told the King his presence gave the gathering “a special meaning”. The King also took away two UNESCO publications on racism and discrimination to read, and discussed with Dutch representatives how the Netherlands can do better, including the role of art and culture.
Coming up: the breakout session on reparatory justice at 15:45 UK time, chaired by Ebony Riddell Bamber with Windrush lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie and academic Leona Vaughn. The Day 1 livestream is on UNESCO's YouTube channel.
Source: ANP via nieuws.nl; forum programme.
Viola Davis: “more philanthropists, not more billionaires”
By JAM Editorial TeamOscar winner Viola Davis took the stage in the morning's “Champions Against Racism” session, streamed on UNESCO's YouTube channel.
In remarks reported by the Dutch news agency ANP, she spoke of an epidemic of loneliness and said compassion is needed to bring people closer together. The world needs more philanthropists and more empathetic people, she said, not more billionaires. Everyone in the hall has one thing in common, she added: all of us will die, and even that truth is not enough to make us do whatever it takes to bridge the gap between us.
She also spoke about her own experiences of racism and said too few people who face discrimination get to tell their story and share their truth.
Her words have so far been published only in Dutch translation, so we are paraphrasing rather than quoting.
Source: ANP via nieuws.nl.
Jetten opens the forum: slavery apology “not a full stop, but a comma”
By JAM Editorial TeamThe forum opened at 09:30 local time (08:30 UK) with King Willem-Alexander in the front row beside prime minister Rob Jetten and host Rabin Baldewsingh, the Netherlands' National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism.
Jetten began with a visit he made to The Black Archives in Amsterdam, then turned to the Dutch apology for slavery: “With this apology we are writing not a full stop, but a comma,” he said. He pointed to 200 million euros set aside for initiatives on the history of slavery and said the government is working with affected communities “across the countries of our Kingdom and the former Dutch colonies” on “a national roadmap towards recovery”.
He told delegates that 1.6 million people in the Netherlands experience discrimination and racism in their daily lives, and that governments must “render account for our actions and the results we achieve”.
Source: full speech text, Government of the Netherlands; ANP via nieuws.nl.
Sources used for this report8 verified links
- Speech by Prime Minister Jetten at the opening of the UNESCO Global Forum Against Racism and Discrimination (Government of the Netherlands)
- Koning bij opening UNESCO-top tegen racisme en discriminatie (ANP via nieuws.nl)
- Viola Davis pleit voor empathie en verbinding bij UNESCO-top (ANP via nieuws.nl)
- Jetten: nog veel werk te doen tegen racisme en discriminatie (ANP via nieuws.nl)
- The Fifth UNESCO Global Forum Against Racism and Discrimination to take place in The Hague (UNESCO)
- Forum programme (globalforum2026.com)
- UN resolution urges reparations for slavery's 'historical wrongs' (UN News, March 2026)
- Day 1 livestream (UNESCO on YouTube)
