Ending Slavery in Small Scale Mining Project, Ghana

The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Contemporary Forms of Slavery provides grants for combating all forms of modern-day slavery and trafficking around the globe. Slavery and trafficking are practices existing in fishing and mining endeavours in Ghana. As regards modern-day slavery in mining, the three districts of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly (TNMA), Prestea-Huni Valley District Assembly (PHDA) and Amenfi East District Assembly (AEDA) are known areas with severe forms of slavery exist. In these communities people are enslaved economically as they strife for personal survival, family survival, payment of personal debts, contributing to payment of family debts etc.

The partnership between Free the Slaves (FTS) of the United States of America and Network for Community Planning and Development (NECPAD) of Ghana aims at eradicating slavery and rehabilitating the victims of slavery on the basis of the following shared assumptions and interest:

i. Empowerment of artisanal mining communities affected by trafficking and slavery to form and develop self sustaining groups such that FTS strongly support NECPAD to help communities

develop action plans to protect themselves and help them to acquire concessions and operating licences;
ii. Educating the public and policy makers and engaging supporters to undertake various forms of solidarity and action as contribution to the international struggle to eradicate slavery;
iii. Creating access to effective communication between frontline human rights organisations and anti-slavery organisations such that FTS and NECPAD joining other anti-slavery groups in Ghana and globally will promote partnership that strongly impacts on the underlying causes of slavery.

The objectives of the project are:

To develop and implement programs to create awareness and sensitise communities to fight against slavery in small scale mining
To promote self-organised slave-free enterprises
To establish firm grounds towards effective enforcement of laws and regulations to end slavery

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