Accra, 31 August 2026 — On the occasion of National Children’s Day, Challenging Heights announces the rescue of twenty-five (25) trafficked children, between the ages six and fourteen years, from forced labour on Lake Volta in our latest rescue operation.
The rescued children comprise eighteen (18) boys and seven (7) girls. The higher number of boys rescued is consistent with a pattern we continue to encounter in fishing-related child labour and trafficking on Lake Volta, where children are taken away from the safety of their families, denied education and subjected to work that no child should have to endure.
All 25 children have been safely moved to the Challenging Heights’ Recovery Centre, where they are currently receiving medical care, psychosocial support, and full recovery.
This rescue, which was conducted in collaboration with the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service, and the Department of Social Welfare, happened over the weekend, with the children rescued from several communities stretching from the Bono East and Northern Regions of Ghana.
This year’s National Children’s Day theme, “Amplifying Children’s Voices on Abuse in Ghana: Promoting Child Protection, Participation, and Advocacy,” highlights the painful reality that millions of children face abuse, exploitation and neglect in silence. In Ghana, an estimated 3.4 million children experience physical or emotional abuse, while nearly one in five children aged 5–17 is engaged in child labour.
According to the Global Slavery Index, roughly 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery globally on any given day, and about one in four victims is a child. Annual profits from forced labour amounts to $235 billion, according to ILO reports.
Approximately 20,000 children are trafficked or are into forced child labour in the fishing industry on Ghana’s Lake Volta. Available data indicates that almost 90% of children working on the lake suffer from physical, emotional, or verbal abuse.
On this National Children’s Day, Challenging Heights calls for immediate, decisive action:
- To the Government of Ghana: Adequately resource child protection and anti-trafficking institutions, including the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Department of Social Welfare, to ensure timely investigation, rescue, care and prosecution.
- To law enforcement and the justice system: ensure that those who traffic, abuse and exploit children face the consequences under Ghanaian law.
- To parents and caregivers: Listen to children, take their concerns seriously and reject practices that expose them to hazardous labour, abuse or exploitation.
- To every Ghanaian: Actively report suspected cases of child abuse and trafficking to authorities. Silence enables exploitation.
For more than two decades, Challenging Heights has worked to rescue nearly three thousand children and young people from trafficking and exploitation, support survivors through recovery, education and reintegration, and strengthen families and communities to prevent exploitation before it happens. In the first half of 2026 alone, Challenging Heights and its partners supported the rescue of 144 victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
Signed
Dr. James Kofi Annan
(Executive Director)
Challenging Heights
