Anti-slavery organisation lauds Ghana’s fight against child trafficking

The Founder and Leader of the International Justice Mission (IJM), the largest anti-slavery organisation in the world, Mr Gary A. Haugen, has stated that Ghana’s efforts at stemming the tide of child trafficking and dealing with the perpetrators are exemplary and yielding positive results.

He observed that through proactive law enforcement, Ghana was making a huge difference in the fight against the canker, a development that had made the country a model to be studied and emulated by other countries.

Mr Haugen stated this when he led a team to pay a courtesy call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.

He lauded the government’s support and direction to all the agencies helping to care for rescued children and commended the President for his commitment to bring down child trafficking and abuse in Ghana.

Meeting

Mr Haugen said one of the exciting things the mission intended to do this year was gather all major Christian leaders at a Justice conference and used the opportunity to invite the President if he could make time to attend.

The IJM, he said, was also working to ensure that the church played a leading role in providing care and home for children rescued from slavery and also actively got involved in issues such as sanitation and advocating for the rights of children.

The organisation has 25 offices around the world and helps build the justice systems of countries.

President

President Akufo-Addo said the work the organisation was undertaking in the area of rights violations was a common enterprise for governments around the world to ensure that every citizen lived in dignity and respect.

He said currently there was a common agreement as to standards for classifying the abuse.

The President said what the IJM was doing was a worthwhile endeavour and that was why the government was supporting it, so that their combined efforts would yield positive results.