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African and Caribbean nations want countries which benefited from slavery to pay compensation but it will not be straightforward.
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Welcoming the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the wealth of many Western nations was "built on stolen lives and stolen labour".
Noting the "barbaric punishments that maintained control - from shackles and iron collars to flogging and sexual violence", he said it "was not simply forced labour".
"It was a machinery of mass exploitation and deliberate dehumanisation of men, women and children. The wounds run deep and often go unrecognised."
The resolution, backed by African and Caribbean countries, is not legally binding but analysts say it sends a powerful message.
"It is already a huge and significant step in political terms to have this debate at the UN, even when it has a more symbolic value," Almaz Teffera, a senior researcher on racism at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC.
She says it could increase the chance of progress on discussions about reparations, or some form of compensation.
The resolution was adopted by 123 votes to three, while 52 countries abstained, including the United Kingdom and EU member states.
The United States, Argentina and Israel voted against it.
Dr Erieka Bennett, who leads the Ghana-based Diaspora African Forum, told the BBC the vote had a personal meaning for the descendants of people who were enslaved, like her.
''It means that I'm acknowledged, it means that my ancestor finally rests. For me personally as an African American I'm overwhelmed - until you've been a part of what happened, it's very difficult to understand what this really means."
Countries affected by slavery have been asking for reparations for more than a century. But the debate has intensified in recent years, particularly after some nations and businesses which historically profited from African slave labour formally apologised and annou
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