By Jerry Azanduna
Techiman (Bono East), Aug. 4, GNA – The International Justice Mission (IJM), a non-governmental organisation, is training personnel of the Department of Social Welfare in the Bono East Region to strengthen efforts to combat child trafficking, child labour and exploitation.
The five-day training at Techiman has brought together 24 officers selected from the 11 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Region.
The participants are being equipped to collaborate effectively with key stakeholders to identify, protect, and support victims while proactively addressing child trafficking and exploitation.
Speaking at the opening session, Madam Shirley Issifu Dungu, Project Manager at the Tamale Office of IJM, said child labour, trafficking and exploitation remained serious offences that undermined the holistic growth and development of children.
She said available statistics showed that child labour and exploitation were prevalent in the agricultural sector, with about 63 per cent of children engaged in exploitative work in farming communities.
Madam Dungu said an IJM study conducted in 2022 indicated that about 38 per cent of children in communities around the Volta Lake were likely to have been trafficked.
She described the trend as alarming and detrimental to the overall development of children.
Madam Dungu reminded participants that child labour, exploitation and trafficking remained serious offences punishable under the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694).
Mr Frank Adjei, Bono East Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, said many victims of child labour were trafficked from the Northern and Volta regions to southern Ghana to work on the Volta Lake and in farming communities.
He disclosed that the Department had recently rescued a Nigerian child in Techiman who had been trafficked from Nigeria.
Mr Adjei called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders, particularly the security agencies, to curb the menace.
He also expressed concern about the lack of shelter facilities for rescued children in the Region and appealed for increased funding to enable the Department to effectively carry out its mandate.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Audrey Dekalu