Don't use underage as househelps - Participants

Tamale, Dec. 14, GNA - Participants at a day's validation seminar on Child Trafficking in Tamale have suggested the enactment of laws to restrict the use of underage persons as househelps as means of solving the child trafficking and all forms of child molestation in the country. They said persons above 18 years, who could better manage homes and other affairs should be used for the purpose to ensure that all children were enrolled into schools to help implement the Free Compulsory universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme.

The Northern Sector office of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) organised the seminar for six community members from two Districts of the Northern Region where child trafficking and child labour had been rampant.

The communities are Gbrumani, Nyankpala and Kumbungu in the Tolon/Kumbungu District and Adubilyili, Fooshegu and Gbulahabilla in the Tamale Metropolis and the purpose was to brainstorm and to see how best the problem of child trafficking could be eliminated from the communities.

The Rights and Voice Initiative an Accra based NGO sponsored the seminar on the theme: "Fight against child trafficking", and was also meant to help build the capacity of participants to mobilise local councils and educate them on the need to fight child trafficking. Most of the participants were of the view that people use the underage persons as house helps because it was easier to deceive and exploit them and that it was necessary for Parliament to pass laws that would ban people from using them as house helps.

They also suggested instituting stiffer punishment to people who are involved in child trafficking so as to make the practice a disincentive as means of stopping the practice.

Madam Theresa Baveng Fugluu, Project Coordinator of CCG said the goal of the child trafficking project was aimed at identifying and documenting the nature and scope of child trafficking issues in the selected communities to be used as evidence for advocacy. She said the CCG had joined the crusade to help fight child trafficking, child labour and child molestation in the country particularly from the Northern Region where children are susceptible child trafficking.

She said her outfit would engage in dialogue with national policy makers to advocate for the implementation of existing laws, policies and conventions relating to child trafficking in Ghana. Mr. Issahaku Amadu Alhassan, Northern Regional Population Officer called on the government to appoint the youth under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), to serve as watchdog on child traffickers in child trafficking communities as means of solving the problem. He said it was difficult to identify between child traffickers and family relations and called on participants to form community watchdog committees on child trafficking and remain vigilant to stop the practice.

Mr. James Nayhi, Coordinator of the Northern Sector office of the CCG said community leadership involvement in the fight against child labour was necessary and that CCG would collaborate with other stakeholders to rescue trafficked children. He appealed to policy makers to have the political will to implement the child trafficking laws to ensure that the practice was stopped to enable all children to focus on education.