Christian Council Wants Anti-Child Trafficking Law

The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, has urged government to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat child trafficking.

He said the strategy should highlight prevention, protection and partnership efforts in combating child trafficking. “This harnesses tenets of the relevant laws which will be implementable and yield desired results,” he added.

Speaking at the launch of CCG's Policy Brief on child trafficking in Accra, Rev Deegbe said, “It is obvious that child trafficking is still rife in some parts of the country and we all need to unite to combat it.

He said, “It is for this reason that we have developed the Policy Brief to help various stakeholders in addressing the menace”.

Rev. Deegbe urged government to consider the policy recommendation in the Brief and engage its various stakeholders in implementing them.

Touching on some of the policy concerns, he said, “It is critical that law enforcers are educated on the various laws that relate to child trafficking. Ratifying all laws is not a solution to the inhumane acts meted out to children”.

Rev. Deegbe said poverty was a major push factor why parents engaged in trafficking. “It is therefore critical to provide support to parents to be economically empowered to cater for their children and themselves.”

He said there were some government efforts in the area of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) across the country. However, he said this concept was yet to become sustainable due to its implementation strategy.

As a result, Rev. Deegbe said there were job relevance and security issues relating to political dimensions perceived to be associated with it.

Rev. Deegbe said since 2006, the council had been working relentlessly to combat child trafficking in the country and help rescue children to reintegrate into the society and also reunite with their family.

As part of their work, he said they conducted a baseline survey in six selected communities in the Ga West and Dangme West Districts of the Greater Accra region in 2006, where they discovered that a total of 124 children had been trafficked to various destinations such as Akosombo, Yeji, Akoto Lantey, Akate, Akatsi, Kpando Torkor, Afram Plains, Dambai, Togo, Abidjan and Cotonou.

He urged each and everyone to remember that children represented the future aspirations of the country and “we must therefore do all we can to ensure that they grow to become that which God has destined them to be.”

Rev. Deegbe said the council would not relent in its work in ensuring that child trafficking became a thing of the past in the country.