Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection has called on Ghanaians to help end human trafficking in the country, which she described as a crime to humanity.
She said: “We cannot continue to pretend not to know the dangers of human trafficking and so there was the need for all of us in the communities to stand against the menace.” Madam Djaba made the call at a sensitization forum held at Sege in the Ada West District, in the Greater Accra Region, organized by the Ministry, in collaboration with the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council.
The programme was on the theme: “Together We End Trafficking Now: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Collaborative Efforts.” Giving statistics on human trafficking, the Minister said in 2017, 500 persons were trafficked into force labour, among others, and out of the number, 350 were children.
She said 129 of them were between the ages of nine and 19, of which 81 of them were trafficked from Ada West and East Districts of the Greater Accra Region. Madam Djaba called for a comprehensive grass root and community approach to educate the people on the dangers of human trafficking, especially children, to end the inhuman treatment.