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Ask Stephen Kwabena Effah
Thursday, 20 September 2007"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these," Matthew 19:14.Children are gifts from God and are said to be the glory of every woman. They bring happiness to families. In our part of the world, many marriages have broken down due to the inability of the couple to make babies.
Because of this situation, many couples resort to various means to be able to make babies. While some seek God’s intervention, others resort to orthodox medicine or the intervention of fetish priests.
CEREMONYThen comes the merry-making when finally a child is born to the couple. The child is officially ushered into the world at a naming ceremony full of fun and excitement. At the traditional ceremony, the child is given a drop of hard liquor and water signifying smooth or difficult times in life.
Truly, in our part of the world life has not always been the same for everyone. While some people are having it easy and smooth, others are faced with difficulties due to poverty. In Africa, generally, millions of people are poor, a situation which has made African children more vulnerable and thus suffer in the hands of their parents and other adults.
In the struggle for families’ survival, children in poor communities mostly become victims of exploitation because of their vulnerability. Most children in such communities, instead of going to school, are forced to work, sometimes in very dangerous conditions, fight in armed conflicts or even engage in commercial sex – all of which are in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Traditionally, it is a common practice in Africa for poor parents to hand over their children to relatives and friends who are mostly living in the cities, andpromise to give the children education or vocational training, but in most cases it never happens. In some cases, other parents give out their children to people in return for monthly, quarterly or annual compensation. This has been described as child trafficking.
Statistics on trafficking are however not available as they are difficult to obtain due to the underground nature of the activity. But it is estimated that over one million children worldwide, including thousands in West Africa, are recruited from their homes each year by individuals seeking to exploit their labour. Some of them are sold outright.
The UN has estimated that 200,000 African children, some as young as three years old, are trafficked yearly. Governments, especially African governments always do not give the true picture of the phenomenon in their countries. This has resulted in conflicting figures by government officials and non-governmental organisations.
The ninth principle of the Geneva Declaration on Human Rights of the Child states explicitly that "the child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic in any form".
Child trafficking has in recent years emerged as an issue of global concern due to the world’s consensus and cooperation in fighting this heinous crime. Currently, child trafficking has highly become lucrative especially in Europe. It has been identified as the third largest source of profits of organised crime after drugs and guns.
In Ghana, child trafficking within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking. These children are used as labour in the fishing industry, on farmlands, quarries, and as porters, street hawkers and truck pushers.
According to some NGOs in the country, lack of employment in many communities is the main factor compelling parents to illegally sell their children through migrant traffickers who offer "real package deals". These children who are mostly taken to the towns and villages along the Volta Lake are abused and exploited by their "owners" to make money. And the effects of trafficking are very devastating. Some of them are cut from their roots, thus losing contacts with their biological family, at times permanently.
They are deprived of the right to enjoy life to the fullest. Their harsh working conditions make them deeply traumatised and damaged both physically and mentally in the long term.
On January 25, 2006, twenty-five of such children in Ghana were rescued by the International Organisation for Migration, an NGO from Kete-Krachi where they were being used for fishing on the Volta Lake. They were from the Central, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions and rescued under the "Yeji Child Trafficking Project", which started in 2002. The project has since rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated 612 of such trafficked children.Some of these children between the ages of six and 17, had developed signs of abuse. They had cracked lips and soles and ulcers. Their hairs were unkempt, were shabbily dressed, bare-footed, had skin rash, bilharzias and ear infections.
According to a UNDP report, 315 million people, about half the population in sub-Saharan Africa, survive on less than one dollar per day. It said less than 50 per cent of Africa’s population has access to hospitals or doctors. In 2000, 300 million Africans did not have access to safe water. The report indicated that only 57 per cent of African children are enrolled in primary education.
However the Ghana Statistical Services "Patterns and Trends of Poverty in Ghana 1991-2006 Report" released last April revealed that poverty in the country had reduced by half. It indicated that school enrolment in primary and secondary had therefore improved considerably since 1991 with four out of five Ghanaian children in the relevant age group currently attending primary school.
On health, the report said people’s preference for consulting pharmacists and chemical sellers to seeing doctors increased between the same period. Also mobile phones had increased in the last ten years while access to potable water had increased a lot in rural areas.
In fact, I read with surprise media reports on the said reduction in poverty, and asked myself whether this reduction in figure can be said of the situation on the ground, especially in the rural communities. Let us not look far. Just visit James Town, Chorkor, Alajo, Sodom and Gomorrah and Bortianor, all in Accra, and you would come to terms with what the level of poverty is like and whether the people are really better off.
In some rural communities in the country access to education, health, potable water and other basic social utilities is non-existent. Some school children in such communities walk long distances on foot to attend school daily as there is no means of transport.
Some communities which are fortunate to have schools, most of the times, lack good infrastructure and teachers. Some children study under trees while others have no teachers, which manifests in their poor performance in both Basic and Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations yearly.
Although poverty is with us, I sometimes blame those who are living in poverty for their woes. In Ghana, almost all the citizenry are looking up to the central government to provide "everything" for them, ranging from employment to social infrastructure and amenities. Some people sit idle in their homes not wanting to start anything, while others, throughout the week move from church to church and prayer camp to prayer camp wasting productive hours. Though there are a lot of opportunities in agriculture for people to take advantage of and earn a living, they seem not to be conscious of such opportunities.
Reducing poverty levels in poor communities world dramatically decrease the rate of child trafficking by making children less vulnerable. Enrolment of children in school is fundamental. Apart from protecting and educating them about their rights, it also gives them practical skills for work in the future.
The metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies must ensure that all children of school going age are enrolled in school now that the government has introduced the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme. To enforce this, the assemblies should enact by-laws to deal drastically with parents who refuse to enrol their children in school.
CAMPAIGNSOne crucial element in combating the phenomenon is through local awareness campaigns to empower communities, families and children themselves to prevent trafficking. Government must also sensitise them on the various declarations, conventions and laws against child trafficking as most communities are unaware of the existence of such laws.
Poverty must never be a justification for a parent to sell or lease his or her child to a stranger to be taken away for whatever reason. They should be ready and willing to cater for their own children. Parents must uphold their responsibilities towards their children and take their role as primary caregivers very seriously. They can best do this when they have good employment. Therefore, they should be backed by the assemblies with economic development and micro credit facilities among other things to put them in good position to look after their children, since they are the future leaders of this great nation.
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