Government pays GHC1m to Human Trafficking Fund to address threat

General news for Saturday, September 5, 2020

Source: goldstreetbusiness.com

2020-09-05

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The government has given GHc1 million to the Human Trafficking Fund to help combat the threat of human trafficking in the country.

Ghana has rescued, supported and cared for 611 victims of human trafficking since 2019, of whom 200 were children and 411 were adults.

The government has also provided shelter for victims of human trafficking and has facilitated processes for reuniting with their families.

Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, trading or receiving a person within and outside national borders for the purpose of exploitation.

Ghana is currently at level two of the human trafficking classifications. Tier Two countries are those whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) 2000, but are making significant efforts to meet those standards.

Addressing the media on the Meet-the-Press series in Accra, Cynthia Maamle Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, said that the Ministry, for the past three and a half years, had organized community dialogues and awareness to raise awareness about human trafficking and irregular migration.

The Ministry has held durbars in traditional areas where 75 traditional leaders pledged their support to combat the threat.

On supporting the poor and vulnerable, Ms Morrison announced that a total of 1,451,656 extremely poor households were registered with the Livelihoods Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program and had been paid GHc334, 084, during five cycles of cash grants.

In addition, 73 percent of LEAP beneficiaries have enrolled in the National Health Insurance Plan (NHIS), with 5,522 people linked to productive socioeconomic activities.