Government Blasts UN Agency
The government on Tuesday raised concerns over what it described as the subtle manoeuvre by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to take sole credit for the recent freeing of 176 slave children sent to work at Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region and other communities around the Volta Lake.
Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), said the Ministry took strong exception to the impression created by IOM's "sponsored reportage" in both the local and international media to down play the government's role and initiative in controlling child slavery and trafficking.
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The Minister, who was speaking at the weekly pressing briefing in Accra organised by the Information Ministry, said IOM approached the Ministry with a project to help address child slavery after they got to know of some efforts made by the government to control child slavery.
She said the government then made an appeal to USAID for financial assistance resulting in release of 350,000 dollars to IOM to get the project started since the government believed that the issue of child slavery was broad and needed collaborative efforts.
"Yet in all the reportage, the IOM through their sponsored media, has sought to play down the efforts and role of my Ministry and government's efforts in the programme to release the children.
"My question to IOM is why the subterfuge? What is motivating the subtle manoeuvre to make it appear as if IOM is the only organisation involved in solving the problem of child trafficking?"
Mrs Asmah said the matter would be brought before Cabinet for a decision on the behaviour of IOM since it was a United Nation's Organisation
Mrs Asmah said long before IOM came on the scene government had established a programme to halt child trafficking following a Ghana Broadcasting Corporation report that brought the issue to light.
She said a follow-up and investigations by MOWAC culminated in the initiation of the "Operation Bring The Children Home" resulting in the disbursement of over 1.3 billion cedis to assist mothers to take care of their children to control the supply of trafficked children.
Ms Asmah said government had initiated a: "Trafficking In Persons Prevention Bill", to deal specifically with trafficking in persons.
She said the bill had been circulated to stakeholders for discussions and very soon it would be submitted to Parliament for consideration.
The Minister said 1.7 billion cedis had been processed and would soon be disbursed, adding that an initial 1.3 billion cedis had been given out already.
She said MOWAC was also in the process of disbursing various sums as loans under a Japanese grant as part of efforts to improve the lives of women in general.
The Minister has, meanwhile, kicked against reports, especially, in the international press that Ghana was involved in child slavery.
The occasion coincided with the commissioning of a refurbished ultra-modern conference hall of the Ministry of Information, which was undertaken by Scancom, operators of Spacefon.
