Taskforce To Meet On Human Trafficking Bill

The National Task Force on Trafficking in Persons will be meeting on Thursday November 20 to discuss the proposed Human Trafficking Prevention Bill in relation to the UN and ECOWAS position on the issue. The meeting will brainstorm on the concerns of interest groups and determine the possibility of incorporating them, before the Bill is fine-tuned.

The United Nations and ECOWAS in recent times have come out strongly on fashioning out measures, particularly policies to curb human trafficking in all forms at all levels. The two bodies have condemned and criminalized human trafficking and enjoin all countries to follow suit as well as pass legislation that ensures that perpetrators do not go without being punished.

However, Ghana is yet to ratify the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish trafficking in Persons, especially women and children that supplement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The national task force, which derives its legal basis from Article 9 of the UN trafficking protocol, is to ensure that the country obtains a legal framework capable of punishing human traffickers.

It is also tasked to develop, coordinate and implement programmes, policies and other relevant measures aimed at preventing human trafficking in all forms.