NGO Calls For Support To Eliminate Child Trafficking

Sewa Foundation, an NGO advocating against child trafficking and labour, has called on the elders of the Sukrong and Budu in the Eastern Region to support the fight against child trafficking and child labour. Mr. Jones Owusu Yeboah, Executive Director of Sewa Foundation, said the high rate of child trafficking in the country posed threat to the development of children and called for collaborative efforts to curb it. Mr. Yeboah said child trafficking exposed children to a whole range of extractive and manufacturing industries, often under dangerous and exploitative conditions. He said the activities of traffickers get sophisticated and that there was the need to involve communities in raising awareness and training people on how to identify children at risk and how to intervene. Odikro Adjei Yaw, Chief of Budu, pledged their support in eradicating child trafficking and its related issues. He said victims of child trafficking were usually maltreated and were unable to contribute to national development. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he said, there had been issues of child trafficking in his area but his people fought against it. Mr. Isaac Amadi, an opinion leader who represented Sukrong, said child trafficking and child labour had been one of the community�s major challenges. He said children in the community were trafficked to the cities, adding that �most of these children come back with illness and are unable to work�. Mr. Edward Nyarko, Aspiring Assembly Member of the Sukrong-Budu Electoral Area, said parents who give their children to strangers usually attribute the act to poverty. He therefore appealed to other NGO�s to support the women in the community and also pledged to mobilize the youth in fighting against child trafficking.