Civil society organisation Global Freedom Network (GFN) has revealed that an estimated 91,000 people have been identified as victims of modern slavery in Ghana since 2021, while the global figure is estimated at 50 million.
Speaking on the CruzFM Morning Show in Akumadan, GFN Programme Coordinator Elizabeth Poku said the figures are based on the organisation’s internal research into modern slavery.
According to her, although international conventions adopted in 1926 and 1934 outlawed slavery, practices such as human trafficking, forced labour, child marriage and debt bondage continue to affect millions of people worldwide.
Madam Poku explained that since its establishment in 2014, GFN has focused on eliminating modern slavery through public education, advocacy and collaboration with religious and community leaders.
“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.
She noted that declaration ceremonies have been held in the Vatican, Delhi, Canberra, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Auckland and Medellín between 2014 and 2018. Ghana hosted the organisation’s first African declaration signing ceremony on August 5, 2021, bringing together 14 religious leaders from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria to commit to fighting modern slavery.
Her comments come after the Ghana Police Service announced on July 21, 2026, that it had rescued 33 victims of human trafficking and arrested 28 suspects during intelligence-led operations targeting cyber fraud, human trafficking and illicit arms trafficking in Accra, Tema and the Ashanti Region.
Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, also disclosed that security agencies had uncovered several other trafficking cases involving victims brought from Nigeria into Ghana earlier this year.
According to GFN, poverty, political instability and famine remain the leading factors driving modern slavery. Madam Poku added that child marriage and forced marriage continue to persist in many communities due to cultural practices and inadequate reporting.
As part of its anti-slavery campaign, GFN partnered with transport unions and the Police Anti-Trafficking Unit in June 2022 to launch a nationwide awareness programme.
The initiative included displaying posters bearing the Anti-Trafficking Unit’s hotline, 18555, on buses and at major transport terminals, including VIP and STC stations, while educating passengers and drivers on how to report suspected trafficking cases.
GFN is currently expanding the campaign across Accra and has called on government, religious institutions, traditional authorities, the media and the general public to work together to eliminate all forms of modern slavery.
“Modern-day slavery is real. Stay alert,” Madam Poku urged.
