Gender Ministry disseminates National Plan of Action for Human Trafficking

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) on Wednesday, organised a strategic meeting and dissemination on the National Plan of Action (NPA) for the elimination of Human Trafficking in Ghana.

Madam Otiko Afisah Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Gender, said a lot of hard work had gone into the development of the NPA, which was the government’s first comprehensive and coordinated approach aimed at addressing the root cause of human trafficking.

She explained that the Plan which actively sought to enhance victim care and perpetrator accountability, made clear provision for human resources, budget, as well as clear and comprehensive lines of various responsibilities of all implementing partners.

Madam Otiko said the NPA, which was finalised in March this year, showed that no one actor could tackle the issue of human trafficking, therefore laid focus on the four “Ps” which involved the areas of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnerships, which encompasses multi-stakeholder involvement and partnerships for successful implementation.

She admitted that outdooring the Ministry’s strategies towards eliminating the prevalence of Human Trafficking, was an added step to strengthening the social protection systems of the country.

Human Trafficking, she said, was considered to be a slap on the face of democracy and nation building efforts, as they trampled on the fundamental human rights of individuals and therefore deemed a criminal act under Ghana’s Constitution.

In view of this fact “we cannot relax in our efforts to fight it whilst perpetrators benefit from the blood and seat of our children, families and friends,” she said.

The Gender Minister said a lot of progress had been made since the passage of the Human Trafficking Act (694) of 2005, and the Human Trafficking Regulations LI 2219, was to standardise the effective implementation of the Act in order to address the various gaps in the fight against the menace.

She urged all the stakeholders to be fully involved in maintaining effective monitoring and evaluation of systems as well as ensure sustainable funding streams.

The meeting, brought together over 50 participants from various stakeholder institutions and implementing partners including the Ghana Police Service, Immigration, National Security, Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as Civil Society Organisations across the country.

The participants would be assigned roles with regards to the implementation of the four “Ps”, and discuss how the five-year Plan would be executed, beginning with priority areas of implementation for the first year which spanned between 2017 and 2018.