The government is investing €200 million to increase knowledge and awareness of the Kingdom’s shared slavery legacy. It is also keen to explore the continued impact of slavery and its historical legacy today. In addition the government continues to work hard to ensure equal opportunities and combat discrimination and racism.
Three main objectives
The government has identified the following 3 objectives for the coming years:
- Increasing knowledge and raising awareness about slavery and its historical legacy, for example by focusing more on slavery, racism and discrimination in primary and secondary education.
- Acknowledging and commemorating slavery and its historical legacy. To this end, the government established the Slavery Remembrance Committee in early 2025 to promote continued awareness of slavery and its historical legacy, and to commemorate the lives of enslaved people.
- Acknowledging the consequences of the history of slavery and coming to terms with the past, for example through intensive efforts to combat discrimination, racism and inequality, and enabling people to change slavery-related surnames.
Fund for understanding, commemorating and coming to terms with the past
The government has earmarked €200 million for raising awareness of slavery and its historical legacy. All ministries are working together to use this budget fairly and effectively, so that funding goes to the communities it is intended for, across the entire Kingdom and Suriname.
The fund consists of 2 parts:
- €100 million for government measures to raise awareness and acknowledge the impact of slavery. This includes adapting teaching programmes in primary and secondary education, and investing in research and museums, and protecting cultural heritage in all countries involved.
- The other €100 million will be used for grants for community-based initiatives. The grant schemes were published in the Government Gazette on 1 July 2025. The first application round opened on 11 August 2025, with foundations able to submit applications for grants to strengthen and professionalise their organisations. €5,000 was made available to organisations based in the European part of the Netherlands, and $10,000 to organisations in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The scheme, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment’s policy implementation unit, will run until the end of 2028, with 8 application rounds for 4 different grants.
Descendants and various relevant organisations in the Netherlands, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and Suriname decide together how the fund and grant scheme will be implemented.
Slavery Remembrance Committee
Dutch involvement in slavery has left deep scars on society, both in the Kingdom and in Suriname. The government believes it is important to continue focusing on this legacy. The Slavery Remembrance Committee was set up to ensure this, for example by increasing Dutch people’s knowledge and encouraging research into slavery and its historical legacy. Every year €8 million is made available for this purpose.
Slavery Remembrance Day
The Slavery Remembrance Committee organises a ceremony in Amsterdam each year on Slavery Remembrance Day (1 July). The Committee works closely with the National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy (NINsee).
Increasing knowledge of slavery and its historical legacy
The government wants to increase the public’s knowledge and awareness of the Kingdom’s shared slavery legacy. Many people have only limited knowledge about this issue.
This is why central government wants people to talk more with each other about slavery and its continued impact, for example on the health of descendants of enslaved people. The government is tackling this in various ways:
- ‘Conversation starters’ – a life-size version of the board game ‘Guess Who?’ with images of famous modern-day and historical figures, to get people talking about slavery and its historical legacy (website in Dutch). This ‘conversation starter’ was introduced in 2024 and has been used at a range of locations.
- The learning network on the consequences of slavery and its historical legacy, in which 20 municipalities work together to identify, acknowledge and commemorate the legacy of slavery at local level.
- A special think tank on interventions for redressing the impact of slavery on health, which advises the government on measures to help descendants of enslaved people find redress and healing.
History of Slavery Programme newsletter
If you want to receive information about the History of Slavery Programme you can sign up for the newsletter by emailing PostbusProgrammaSlavernijverleden@minbzk.nl. The newsletter is available in four languages: Dutch, English, Papiamento and Papiamentu. Please state in your email which language version you would like to receive.
See the overview of previous newsletters (in Dutch).