Freedom from forced labour in Ghana
Challenging Heights brings unique expertise in rescuing children trafficked within Ghana for exploitation in the fishing industry.
In Ghana, fishing communities are responsible for recruiting a large number of children, who are either sold or involuntarily taken from their communities, and exploiting them as child labourers.
Many of the staff at Challenging Heights, including the Director, have firsthand experience of child labour, as they themselves were victims of internal trafficking and exploitation. They have been able to change their lives for the better because of the support received from Challenging Heights, and are in turn able to support other children to do the same. Challenging Heights has won a number of international awards for their work against child slavery and promoting education for children.
Approach
Challenging Heights works to raise awareness within both fishing communities as well as the home communities of the children, thereby encouraging these communities to reject the sale and exploitation of children.
Once a child has been rescued, they provide survivors with aftercare such as temporary shelter and protection. Challenging Heights also supports the children’s families, extended families or foster families in reintegrating former child labourers through providing psychosocial support, linking families to micro-finance providers, closely monitoring the child in the school and home environment.
In the area of prevention, Challenging Heights provides educational support to hundreds of vulnerable or underserved children, supports communities to build resistance to slavery and keep their children in school. and influences national policy and creates advocates to help fight modern slavery.
Related content
Blue Umbrella Day 2022: Raising awareness of sexual violence affecting boys
Connecting the world’s Changemakers to improve children’s lives
Kweku escapes child slavery
COVID-19 Update
The importance of kinship care and the impact of COVID-19
Kinship care in Sub-Saharan Africa: An asset worth supporting
The Paradox of Kinship Care
