Although there are a lot of children out there to be rescued, we consider the prevention  of trafficking and child labour more critical in the development of the child and in the elimination of worst forms of child labour in Ghana. Parents, close extended family members, community members and strangers are all implicated in the trafficking of children for forced labour.

The interventions we use for this are integrated. We focus on sensitization and awareness creation for changing mindsets and giving educational support to at risk children, involving children in the whole process, building the capacity of community actors and strengthening community governance structures for dealing with the problem from source. We also support the communities in poverty alleviation and food security schemes, especially for  the mothers so they can take better care of their children. This project started in 2008 and so far we have supported 16 communities. It has led to the reduction of trafficked children and voluntary return of children who have been trafficked by their parents.

Support to Ex-Child Slaves for livelihood training
This project is a sub-set of the project preventing the trafficking of children. It is on-going and aims at identifying and supporting ex-child slaves with basic education and apprenticeship training. In 2010, a total of 132 children between 9-15 were put into basic education and another 41 ex-child slaves of ages 15-22 were supported for apprenticeship training including carpentry, masonry, auto-mechanic, hairdressing and dressmaking. The programme includes provision of counseling and healthcare.