Every person should live in freedom. But too many are trapped in forced labour, human trafficking, or sexual exploitation.

According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, an estimated 50 million people were living in situations of modern slavery on any given day in 2021. Of these people, approximately 27.6 million were in forced labour, and 22 million were in forced marriages.

The most vulnerable are women, children, and migrants, who remain disproportionately affected. More than 12 million of all people in modern slavery are children; women and girls account for over half of them (54 per cent).

Modern slavery occurs in every country, including Ghana, regardless of its status. More than half (52 per cent) of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle-income or high-income countries.

Against this background, a project officer at ActionAid Ghana, Alia Mumuni, has made a passionate appeal to the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection to make deliberate efforts to combat modern-day slavery.

She was speaking at the validation session of the end-of-project evaluation report in Tamale on combating modern-day slavery.

She revealed that the situation is dire in Ghana, especially in the northern region, and thus requires the government’s efforts to augment that of ActionAid.

Madam Alia reiterated that modern slavery is a reality in our communities due to economic vulnerabilities in many households. However, she added that “the weak enforcement of some of our laws makes it easier for perpetrators to abuse the rights of other community members.”

The Combating Modern Slavery Project started in 2021 and officially ended in 2023 in 25 communities within three districts of the northern region.

The project has achieved many successes, including people getting informed about their rights and over 100 women in the northern region receiving support for economic livelihood activities to bring them out of their economic vulnerability so they don’t fall prey to the culprits.

She implored the Ghana police service, the MMDAs, and social welfare to intensify their efforts and work collectively to ensure a northern region and Ghana free from modern slavery.

However, some of the beneficiaries who were once victims of modern slavery shared their ordeal and praised ActionAid Ghana for intervening and establishing a regular livelihood.