According to the Ministry, government allocation of GH¢1 million to the fund is inadequate to support activities to combat human trafficking.

Speaking after the commemoration of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Francisca Oteng-Mensah noted that, the Ministry depends on donor funds to support its activities.

“When it comes to the budget of the ministry, the Human Trafficking Secretariat is given a specific amount of money to fight against human trafficking. Like Oliver Twist, we will always ask for more because if you look at the activities that the ministry has rolled out to undertake that fall under human trafficking, it is enormous and sometimes only the funds coming from the government will not be enough.”

“We cannot do it alone, that is why we have that collaboration with our development partners to support us,” she stated.

She also added: “If you look at today’s event for instance, we are fortunate to have European Union under expertise France to sponsor some of our activities”.

Delivering her remarks at the event, the Vice President for the Ghana Journalists Association, Linda Asante Agyei urged the media to prioritise reporting of human trafficking issues to fight the menace.

Mrs. Asante Agyei noted that, the critical role played by the media in information dissemination will go a long way to impact positively when human trafficking is given the needed attention.
She charged the media to take steps to understand issues about the menace and make every effort to report accurate stories.

For her part, a member of the Human Trafficking Management Board, Prof. Angela Ofori-Atta who highlighted success stories of the Board’s efforts in dealing with human trafficking noted that, it has embarked on several sensitisation exercises in the Northern Region on human trafficking, child labour and all forms of exploitation.

She also noted that in 2020, the Board held a durbar which brought together 75 chiefs who were sensitised on human trafficking adding that, it held a stakeholder engagement to review a mid-year assessment on the National Plan of Action against human trafficking.

Prof. Ofori-Atta indicated that, although the Board has made significant efforts, the menace still persists as such, the need to intensify the fight.

The event drew stakeholders including the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), the Ghana Hotel Association (GTA), Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MoELR), Ghana Tourism Federation, Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ghana Civil Aviation.