The government has instituted enough measures to drastically reduce child labour on the Volta Lake, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Emma Morrison has said.
This was in response to a question yesterday in Parliament by Alexander Hottordze, Member of Parliament for Central Tongu who wanted to know what the ministry was doing to educate the people along the Volta Lake to stop the practice of child trafficking.
Mentioning some of the interventions, the minister said the ministry had embarked on awareness raising campaigns to educate the general public and in particular communities along the lake.
She said some of the communities visited for the outreach programme included Afram Plains North and its enclave where they held a durbur and Kpando to educate them on child trafficking and labour.
The minister said the ministry also observed the World Day against Human Trafficking at Yeji in the Pru East District in the Bono East Region to educate the people on existing laws on child trafficking and labour.
She said early this year, the ministry in collaboration with Human Trafficking Management Board working with International Organisation for Migration held a community engagement in the Oti Region.
“We have also been to Sege in the Ada West, Senya Breku, Prestea Huni Valley and many others.These efforts have yielded positive results since some parents and stakeholders have changed their attitude and children have been brought back to them,” she said.
She said the ministry also met with the fishing community in Dzemeni where the chiefs and the queen mothers were sensitised on issues of child trafficking on the lake, adding that boat owners were also engaged.
Mrs Morrison said after the airing of the CNN documentary on child trafficking in Ghana, the ministry visited a number of communities along the Volta Lake to interact with the fishermen and community elders to educate them to better understand the situation and find lasting solution to the menace.
She said issues of child trafficking was one the worst forms of child trafficking, hence there was a strong collaboration between the ministry and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to ensure that child labour was eliminated from the communities.
BY LAWRENCE MARKWEI