A benefit concert will be held today at the Hammerstein Ballroom in
New York City in support of an IOM programme that rescues and
rehabilitates children trafficked to work in fishing villages in
Ghana.

The event, featuring musicians including Push Play, Saving Jane,
Tamarama, Graham Colton and WOW, was organized by members and
supporters of One Is Greater Than None, a group created in April
2007 by eight teenage girls from Long Island, New York.

The members of One Is Greater Than None will present a USD
68,800 cheque to IOM to pay for the rescue and rehabilitation of 16
trafficked children.

Three friends of the One Is Greater Than None group decided to
join them and are responsible for organizing tonight's
concert. 

"The girls have spent endless hours organizing and planning
every aspect of this benefit concert.  The One Is Greater Than
None girls are forever grateful to these three inspiring teens who
chose to become part of the equation and change the lives of so
many children," says Karen Barnofsky, mother of a group member.

The IOM 2009 rescue operation began in mid-February with the
release of the first group of 22 children who are now in a
Department of Social Welfare rehabilitation centre in the Ghanaian
capital, Accra.  The children will spend three-and-a- half
months in comprehensive rehabilitation through psycho-social
counselling, medical assistance, educational instruction and
creative art therapy.

"The 2009 rescue mission has taken more time than usual because
we have had to engage in very difficult negotiations with the
fishermen to convince them to voluntarily release the children,"
explains Eric Peasah, Manager of the IOM Counter-Trafficking
Project in Ghana.

At the end of their rehabilitation, the children will be
reunited with their families and respective communities. Soon
after, they will be enrolled in school or into vocational training
programmes. The parents/guardians of the rescued children will also
receive micro-credits to undertake viable income-generation
activities. 

Next week IOM staff will return to the fishing villages in the
Kete Krachi and Yeji areas of Lake Volta to rescue an additional 14
children. 

By the end of the 2009 rescue mission, IOM will have rescued 36
trafficked children, bringing the project's grand total to 684
children since it began in late 2002.

In preparation for each rescue mission, IOM and its government
and local NGO partners carry out numerous visits to the fishing
villages to identify trafficked children, gather information, and
raise awareness with support from village chiefs.  In the
villages of origin, IOM works with the chiefs, the parents and the
community to raise awareness of the dangers of child labour and
human trafficking and to identify income generating opportunities
for the parents so they are not forced to give their children to
the fishermen. Fishermen who release children also receive training
and micro-credits to enable them to carry out alternative
livelihood ventures or improve their fishing techniques without
using child labour.

The plight of the trafficked children, forced to work long hours
doing dangerous work including diving into the cold waters to
untangle fishing nets, malnourished because they receive little to
no food and suffering constant beatings from their "masters", has
captured the attention of the public in many countries.

"The response from the public has been an inspiration to us all
at IOM. Their generosity and support provides additional motivation
to our teams working in the field," says IOM's Head of
Counter-Trafficking, Richard Danziger.

So far, the general public has contributed nearly USD 600,000
towards IOM's programme which also receives funding from the US
State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
(PRM).

Read more about IOM's counter-trafficking project in Ghana
at:

"/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/1666" target="" title=
"">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/1666

For more information, please contact:

Eric Peasah

IOM Ghana

Tél. +233 24 217 0827

E-mail : "mailto:epeasah@iom.int">epeasah@iom.int