OUR AREAS OF WORK

Accra the capital and largest city of Ghana, covering an area of 225.67 km2 with an estimated urban population of 2.27 million as of 2012. The monitoring in the Greater Accra Region takes place at Agbogbloshie which is a nickname of a commercial district on the Korle Lagoon of the Odaw River. Agbogbloshie is destination for locally generated automobile and electronic scrap collected from across the City of Accra. The population of Agbogbloshie consists of economic migrants from northern and rural parts of Ghana and due to the high number of migrants; it is also a potential area for trafficking of children. Inhabitants of Agbogbloshie live, eat, work and relieve themselves on the land and amongst the waste. Children who are able to attend school often spend every evening and weekend processing waste searching for metals. Most of these children are trafficked children who live nd work under hazardous conditions.  Dwellings are wooden shacks that lack water and sanitation. Common social vices in the area are armed robbers, prostitution, drug and others involved in underground markets. Crime and disease run rampant throughout Agbogbloshie, creating an almost uninhabitable environment for humans particularly trafficked children.

Aflao is a town in Ketu South District in the Volta Region of Republic of Ghana. Afloa has been chosen for the pilot because it is a border town and a major transit point of child trafficking. It is on Ghana's Togolese (eastern) border. Aflao is the twenty-eighth most populous settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 66,546 people. Historically, it served as one of the major markets for the slave trade in the 18th Century. Monitoring Child Trafficking at the border in Aflao would lead to rescue of many potentially trafficked children.

Dambai is the capital of the newly created Oti Region located on the eastern side of the Oti River a tributary of the Volta Lake. The town has a vibrant market that falls on Monday and Tuesday to which market people across the Krachi East District and Togo come to. The occupation of the inhabitants is farming and fishing on the River Oti. It is believed that due to the location of its market, lots of trafficked children or at-risk children are traded in the Dambai market on their market days. Most of these children are brought from neighboring communities to be sold or engaged in hazardous and exploitative Labour. Mercy Justice Project chose this location because of its high potential for violation of children for monitoring and possible interceptions.

Kete Krachi is a town in the Krachi West District of the Oti Region of Ghana. Kete Krachi is the capital of the Krachi West District. It is in the West of the Volta region, and is adjacent to Lake Volta. Kete Krachi is connected by a ferry to the town of Kwadjokrom, and by road to Bimbila and Dambai. The occupation of the indigenes is peasant farming. Due to its location most of the trafficked children end up Kete Krachi or on the about 30 Island communities in the Krachi West District. Most importantly, its market day which is on Wednesdays has the potential of serious interceptions. Mercy Justice Project chose this area because of existing statistics that shows alarming number of children being trafficked on the Volta Lake.