Ghana - The French Embassy in Ghana is partnering with IOM in Ghana to increase the Ghanaian public’s knowledge of  the country’s anti-human trafficking law.

In human trafficking, Ghana is a source, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The trafficking of Ghanaians, particularly children, within the country is more prevalent than the transnational trafficking of foreign migrants.

Over the past decade, the government has been working towards improving its response to human trafficking, notably through the adoption of the Human Trafficking Act (694, 2005). More recently the Legislative Instrument on the Human Trafficking Act has been put before parliament.

During a counter-trafficking community education campaign that IOM carried out in select communities in the Volta Region in 2013-2014, a pre-intervention survey revealed that only 4.7 per cent of the community understood child trafficking as being a human rights violation.

It highlighted the need to increase public awareness of the issue by ensuring that as many Ghanaians as possible are aware of the laws that exist to protect their communities, including children, against traffickers.

The French Embassy and IOM, in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders, in particular the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, will design a concise booklet that explains the Ghanaian anti-human trafficking law in a simple and accessible way, using local languages and cartoons. The booklet will also provide information on how to report a case of human trafficking. This new tool will be given to the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development for use especially in Central, Volta and Greater Accra regions.

The French Embassy in Ghana is implementing a three-year regional program to strengthen the fight against human trafficking in West Africa. Promoting democratic governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights is at the core of France cooperation and aid policy. The fight against trafficking persons is fully in this direction. The project aims at strengthening the institutional capacity of the key players in this field, including police investigators, judges, social workers and civil society organizations. Regional cooperation among the participating states is also being implemented through networking and joint actions.

“Laws can be seen by the general public, especially by poor and low-literacy communities in rural areas, as distant and unconnected to their reality and everyday lives. Considering the urgency to stop the flow of children being sent away by misinformed parents, unpacking the content of the law and highlighting how it brings protection to communities and their children, is critical,” said Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, IOM Chief of Mission in Ghana.

IOM Ghana has been working in close collaboration with the government on counter-trafficking issues since 2002. This includes conducting research on trafficking, localized preventive information campaigns, and capacity-building projects focusing primarily on the enhancement of internal government coordination and expert contributions to the formulation of anti-trafficking legislation.

IOM Ghana also offers direct assistance to victims of trafficking and exploitation and has been involved in the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of 752 children trafficked to the fishing sector. It has also assisted in the rescue of foreign victims of trafficking in Ghana.

For further information, please contact Joy Paone at IOM Ghana, Tel: +233 302 742 930, Ext 2414, Email: jpaone@iom.int