A civil society organisation, Global Freedom Network (GFN), has disclosed that 91,000 victims of modern slavery have been identified in Ghana since 2021, while the global figure stands at 50 million.

Speaking on the CruzFM Morning Show in Akumadan, Madam Elizabeth Poku, Programme Coordinator for GFN, said the figures were drawn from the organisation's internal research.

She noted that despite the 1926 and 1934 Slavery Conventions, which prohibited slavery under international law, practices such as human trafficking, forced labour, child marriage and debt bondage remain on the rise.

Madam Poku said GFN's ultimate goal since 2014 has been to eradicate modern slavery through awareness creation, advocacy and partnerships.

"We have been holding a series of signing ceremonies around the world where religious leaders come together and they make a declaration against slavery," she said.

According to her, these declarations have taken place in the Vatican, Delhi, Canberra, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Auckland and Medellín between 2014 and 2018. On 5 August 2021, GFN held its first African declaration signing ceremony in Ghana, with 14 religious leaders from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria pledging their commitment to fight slavery.

Recent trafficking operations

The disclosure comes after the Ghana Police Service, at a press briefing on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, said 33 victims of human trafficking had been rescued while 28 suspects were arrested.

According to the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, the operation was part of intelligence-led efforts targeting cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and illicit arms trafficking in Accra, Tema and the Ashanti Region.

The CID boss noted that several other cases of trafficking, mostly from Nigeria into Ghana, had been busted by security agencies earlier this year.

Root causes and GFN's response

GFN's research identifies poverty, political instability and famine as the main drivers of modern slavery. Madam Poku said the organisation is also tackling child and forced marriages, which she said continue to happen quietly due to societal norms, with very little reporting or law enforcement intervention.

As part of its sensitisation drive, GFN in June 2022 collaborated with transport unions and the Police Anti-Trafficking Unit to run a poster campaign.

"We designed posters showing the 18555 number, which is the hotline for the Anti-Trafficking Unit, and we placed those posters on buses and at bus stations at VIP and STC stations. We also sensitised the passengers and drivers," she said.

The organisation is currently running similar awareness and poster campaigns in Accra and is calling on government, religious leaders, traditional authorities, the media and all stakeholders to join hands to end all forms of human rights abuses amounting to slavery.

"Modern day slavery is real. Stay alert," Madam Poku concluded.