IOM, 11 others to collaborate on human trafficking(Back page) September 3, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has signed an agreement with 11 institutions in Ghana to start a project aimed at checking human trafficking and irregular migration in the country.
The institutions are the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Research and Counselling Foundation for African Migrants, Yankah and Associates and the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment.
The rest are the Ministry of the Interior, Attorney-General's Department, International Labour Organisation, United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The project, dubbed "Capacity-building and awareness-raising to combat trafficking in persons and irregular migration from and through Ghana", would focus on the Western, Central, Greater Accra and Northern regions to raise public awareness on the dangers of the practice.
The Chief of Missions of IOM, Mr David Terzi, who stated that the project was being funded by the Danish government, said Ghana had become not only a transit point but a destination for trafficking and irregular migration.
He said the rural-urban migration and the practice of sending out children to stay with relatives were major sources of exploitation hence the need for concerted efforts to reverse the trend.
Mr Terzi said the project would facilitate the creation of a viable and sustainable protection mechanism among law enforcement officials and non-governmental organisations to provide protection and assistance to victims.
He said the project would, therefore, target different groups within the society and encourage traditional authorities to join in efforts to do away with traditional values and systems that encouraged trafficking.
Mr Terzi called on the law enforcement agencies to step up their efforts to investigate traffickers who acted in the guise of tourism firms, visa brokers and employment agencies.
Mr Terzi said the project would also strengthen the existing co-operation between the IOM and the partner agencies to disseminate information throughout the country to enable potential victims to make informed decisions.
He said the IOM was also working at ensuring that governments did their best to improve socio-economic standards in their countries in order to make it more comfortable for citizens to stay home than to migrate.
Mr Terzi said although complete success might be difficult, the project would help Ghana to take a lead in widening the initiative throughout the sub-region.
Madam Marilin Amponsah, who representative the MOWAC, commended the IOM for the initiative and pledged that her outfit would do all it could to stem the tide against human trafficking.