Plan Ghana condemns trafficking of children

Plan Ghana has condemned the recent trafficking of children in the country which was carried in the media, describing as it as inhuman and the abuse of the rights of the children.

Mr Raphael Bokumah, Plan Ghana Progamme Manager in-charge of Operations, said most of the children being trafficked to inland fishing communities along the Volta Lake were being used in menial jobs such as disentangling fishing nets under the water, which was very detrimental to their health and wellbeing.

He advised parents to desist from selling their children or giving them out to go and work, adding that, every child is born with a great potential in him or her, but it was up to parents and guardians to help them unearth their potentials.

Mr Bokumah was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the on-going nine-day Girls’ Camp, which is under the sponsorship of the Dutch Government, and organized by the Girls Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service, with funding from Plan Ghana’s Girl Power Programme.

It was under the theme: “Aspiring to Inspire: Minimizing Unprepared Motherhood”.

He lauded the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service and other non-governmental organizations involved in the struggle to combat child trafficking and child labour.

He said slavery in all forms is unacceptable and a violation of human rights, which the police must deal with ruthlessly.

The Programme Manager in-charge of Operations said, no one knows the future of a child, and warned that the benefit of sending a child into servitude would be short lived by any parent or guardian.

Mr Bokumah urged parents and guardians to give their children the best form of education, in order to secure a brighter future for them.

He said Plan Ghana would continue to help children to access their rights to health, education, food security and protection.