Challenging Heights last weekend rescued 11 more children from Lake Volta. The children rescued were nine males and two females aged between eight and sixteen. Most of the children had worked as child-fishermen for several years without attending school and were subjected to various forms of abuse.
This adds to the over-1,700 boys and girls the organisation has rescued from slavery in the fishing communities of Ghana since its establishment in 2003, said a statement issued by James Kofi Annan, president of Challenging Heights.
Challenging Heights is a local Ghanaian anti-slavery organisation with the long-term goal of safeguarding the rights of children to education, particularly those affected by human trafficking and modern slavery.
The organisation recently released a comprehensive report on child labour, and says it remains resolute in its fight against child-labour exploitation, especially in the fishing industry of Ghana. The report, titled ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: A report on child labour in the fishing industry of Ghana’, concludes that 60% of all children on Lake Volta are child labourers.
Globally, it is estimated that there are over 40 million human beings caught up in slavery, and the slave traders generate over US$50billion annually. In Ghana, the Global Slavery Index put the number of people in slavery at 133,000 (Walk Free Foundation, 2018).
This current rescue contributes toward reducing the problem of child labour on Lake Volta.
We would like to thank all our partners, especially the Ghana Police Service, Department of Social Welfare and the Navy for their leadership and support in bringing freedom to these children, the statement said.
