The non-profit organization, which, this year, is marking its 5th anniversary themed “Accelerating Impact. Driving Change”, also reported that over 300 early-stage social entrepreneurs were supported to develop organizations that are improving the lives of children, youth, and women in 7 African countries.

Since it’s launched in Ghana in 2012, Reach for Change Africa has provided crucial business development support for social entrepreneurs who, in turn, used their social businesses to impact over one million children.

As a result, over 435,000 African children were protected from mental abuse and threats, over 308,000 children were provided with high-quality education, and over 156,000 children were supported to develop and live healthy lives.

“The social enterprise movement is really starting to take off in Africa, and we are honoured to be a part of this movement for change,” said Amma Lartey, Reach for Change Africa’s Regional Director. “With the right supports, social entrepreneurs have the potential to lead Africa’s development and impact millions along the way.”

Reach for Change Africa is a non-profit organization that runs incubators, accelerators and other customized programs to help local social entrepreneurs develop sustainable organizations that impact the lives of children, youth, and women. In the report, a number of social entrepreneurs from the 7 countries where Reach for Change Africa operates, explained how the organization’s programs helped them to develop their social ventures.

“This year, I spoke with my mentor at Reach for Change about the possibility of franchising my social enterprise and got great feedback. This led me to apply for the NEXTGEN franchising competition and because of the great influence and impact of the Reach for Change Incubator, I was among the winners! Now I am looking into scaling Apps & Girls across all of Tanzania and other African countries,” she added.The Reach for Change Incubator also helped James Kofi Annan build a social enterprise that’s fighting child trafficking in Ghana.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to Reach for Change. Its Incubator program brought direct benefits to me and to Challenging Heights. Today, Challenging Heights is a well-respected global leader in the fight against child trafficking.” said James Kofi Annan.

From the age of 6 to 16, James Kofi Annan was enslaved, starved, abused and forced to work in appalling conditions. After managing to escape and turning his life around, James was determined to prevent other children from experiencing the same thing. He founded Challenging Heights, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates children from slavery, identifies and educates vulnerable children and establishes income-generating initiatives in at-risk communities and empowers youth and families to help prevent child trafficking.

Since joining the Reach for Change Incubator in 2013, James has more than quadrupled Challenging Heights annual budget and is implementing a 5-year strategic plan, developed with support from Reach for Change. Most importantly, he has impacted the lives of over 8,000 Ghanaian children.

The 5-year anniversary report also details Reach for Change’s plans for the future. Over the course of the next 5 years, the organization plans to run additional accelerators to increase the number of African social entrepreneurs that they reach, enriching the social enterprise ecosystem across Africa through research, and implement new programming, such as the rapid scale program for more established social entrepreneurs in the growth phase of their development.

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By: Reach for Change

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The children, aged between five and seventeen, were made up of four girls, and 13 boys.

This brings to 1,600 the total number of children the organization has rescued since it was established some 12 years ago.

Some of these 17 children have worked for nearly twelve years in servitude, working under very deplorable conditions.

In an interview with the media, the President of Challenging Heights, James Kofi Annan, called for urgent government action to address the situation.

He praised the Ministry of Gender for working towards the establishment of the Human Trafficking National Action Plan, but expressed disappointment that the government is failing to resource the various institutions such as the Ghana Police Service, and the Human Trafficking Secretariat, both of which are key if the country is to see an end to the problem.

Child trafficking in the fishing industry has been a problem for the Ghanaian government for several decades. It is estimated that there are over 21,000 working children on Lake Volta alone, and there are several thousands more going through various forms of abuse.

in 2016, the American government warned that Ghana risk losing a lot of the aid money if steps are not taken to address child trafficking in the country.

Challenging Heights works in several communities across Ghana, to rescue, rehabilitate and re-integrate children who have been affected by worst forms of child labor, including trafficking.

The organisation, which recently launched its new 5-year strategic plan, is also involved with the provision of livelihoods training and support for several hundreds of women who are affected by trafficking.

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Credit: Challenging Heights

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These 18 children, who are between the ages of 5 and 17, are currently going through rehabilitation at the organisation’s rehabilitation centre.

Child trafficking in the fishing industry has been a problem for the Ghanaian government for several decades. It is estimated that there are over 21,000 working children on Lake Volta alone, and there are several thousands more going through various forms of abuse.

In 2005, the Ghanaian government passed the Human Trafficking law, making human trafficking a criminal offense, punishable by at least five years imprisonment.

Challenging Heights works in several communities across Ghana, to rescue, rehabilitate and re-integrate children who have been affected by worst forms of child labour, including trafficking. The organisation, which recently launched its new 5-year strategic plan, is also involved with the provision of livelihoods training and support for several hundreds of women who are affected by trafficking.

It is hope that the government would provide the necessary resources for the Human Trafficking Department of the Ghana Police Service, and the Human Trafficking Secretariat of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, to have the capacity to deal decisively with the issue of human trafficking, especially in the fishing industry.

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Credit: Challenging Heights

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