Ghana, USA sign $5m child protection agreement

Ghana has sealed a $5 million Child Protection Compact with the US. This is the first time the US is signing this kind of compact with any country.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOU) and a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Free the Slaves, have been selected to execute the compact agreement in five years.

A focal person on child trafficking at the Ministry of Gender,Children and Social Protection, Ms Victoria Natsu, announced this at the opening of a five-day training of trainers workshop for frontline officers in Ho, in the Volta Region, last Monday.

The workshop also served as the launch of a human and child trafficking project by the IOM for eight districts in the region.

The eight districts are Ketu South, Ketu North, North Tongu, South Tongu, Central Tongu, Biakoye, Ho West, North Dayi and South Dayi.

The project is sponsored by the United Nations and is a scale up of a successful pilot project in three districts in the region which seeks to use communication skills and appropriate language for persuasion towards the elimination of child trafficking.

Ms Natsu described human and child trafficking as one of the world’s most shameful crimes affecting the lives of millions of people around the world.

She said a 2005 International Labour Organisation (ILO) report indicated that about 2.4 million people were victims of trafficking, with an estimated profit value of $32 billion in a year.

She said the position of Ghana was quite precarious because the nation served as an origin, transit and destination point irrespective of legislations to protect the rights to liberty and protection from slavery.

See more: US gives Ghana $5m for child protection

Ms Natsu ,therefore, commended the IOM for the commitment to fight child trafficking and help to establish an effective child and family welfare protection system.

In an address, the Chief of Mission of the IOM , Ms Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, said the integration of good practices into the social fabric was essential to eliminating human and child trafficking.

The Member of Parliament for the Afadjato South Constituency, Mr Joseph Amenowode noted that aspects of culture and traditions of the people had led to the refusal to expose the perpetrators of child abuse and trafficking in the communities.

He commended the IOU for constituting a frontline team to operate on a bottom up approach for the implementation of many interventions against child abuse in the districts.