THE National Director for Advocacy and Partnerships at the International Justice Mission (IJM), Mr Forster Kojo Worlanyo, has raised alarm over a disturbing new trend in human trafficking involving both adults and children.
He said traffickers were increasingly using promises of jobs, football opportunities abroad and scholarships for further studies as bait to lure unsuspecting victims.
According to Mr Worlanyo, human trafficking had evolved beyond the exploitation of children and young people in fishing and farming communities around the Volta Lake.
Mr Worlanyo made these remarks at the opening of a two-day national capacity-building workshop in Ho for selected district directors of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) from 10 regions.
The workshop, held on the theme: ‘Enhancing Civic Responsibility and Institutional Response to Child Trafficking in Ghana,’ was organised by IJM in partnership with the NCCE.
It is aimed to strengthen the commission’s frontline role at the municipal and district levels in prevention, justice delivery and coordinated responses to child trafficking.
He said it now extends to cross-border operations linked to organ harvesting.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to be cautious about the individuals and groups they associate with.
Mr Worlanyo explained that people of all age groups could fall prey to organ trafficking syndicates due to the high global demand for organ transplants, which remain difficult to access.
He said international criminal networks often deceive victims with promises of lucrative jobs and better living conditions, only to subject them to the removal of kidneys and other vital organs.
Mr Worlanyo stressed that the growing threat of child trafficking and organ harvesting required a coordinated national response.
This, he emphasised, informed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between IJM and the NCCE to intensify public education on the issue.
“It is sad that as of now, many Ghanaians do not know what child trafficking is all about. Therefore, we as an international justice organisation decided to partner with the NCCE, which is a major public education institution, to help educate our people,” he indicated.
He added that IJM had established six child trafficking survivor networks across the country to support awareness creation and advocacy.
Mr Worlanyo also called on law enforcement agencies to impose tougher sanctions on perpetrators to serve as a deterrent.
Speaking on the same theme, the Chairperson of the NCCE, Ms Kathleen Addy, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to sustained public education and called for collective action to eliminate child trafficking.
She noted that available data indicated that more than 20,000 children had been trafficked to communities along the Volta Lake, where they were subjected to hazardous labour, denied access to education and healthcare, and in some cases sexually abused.
Ms Addy warned that the situation posed a serious threat to the country’s future.
She disclosed that “21 per cent of Ghanaian children are engaged in child labour in fishing communities along the Volta Lake, while 40 per cent are involved in farming activities in agricultural communities across the country.”
Ms Addy commended the partnership between the NCCE and IJM, and assured that the commission would intensify efforts to raise awareness about child trafficking and its long-term impact on victims and national development.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, HO
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