Photo: CHRAJ staff participate in a training on forced labour @ Verité

The Forced Labor Indicators Project (FLIP) is a cooperative agreement between Verité and the U.S. Department of Labor to promote adoption and use of the International Labor Organization’s Forced Labor Indicators Framework in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. FLIP provides technical assistance and collaborates with government, civil society, trade unions, and private sector actors to increase understanding and harmonize approaches for identifying and addressing forced labor risk. In 2022, the FLIP team developed materials and conducted 15 trainings in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, enabling the exchange of learnings and facilitating cooperation between diverse stakeholders working toward a common goal to reduce forced labor and labor trafficking across all economic sectors.

Among the many trainings and activities held over the past year, the FLIP team in Ghana trained the Forced Labor Technical Working Group (TWG) in a “Training of Trainers” workshop attended by representatives from the government, civil society, and employer/employee associations in the country. This training aimed to build the knowledge of TWG members to train others and encourage concrete actions for forced labor in their ongoing work.

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in Ghana was also trained by FLIP in a Training of Trainers (ToT) that focused generally on forced labor and human trafficking. The training was held for the Human Trafficking Secretariat as well as other departments under the ministry.

FLIP also organized training on forced labor and child labor to build the capacity of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) staff in Ghana. Topics covered in the curriculum included international standards on forced labor and human trafficking, Ghana’s legal and policy frameworks related to forced labor and human trafficking, monitoring and interviewing vulnerable workers, and collaboration with stakeholders. Following the training, CHRAJ was invited to join the Ghana Technical Working Group and they participated in their first TWG meeting in September.

The FLIP team in Côte d’Ivoire provided training on forced labor and human trafficking to an umbrella of women’s organizations called the “Women Network for Peace and Security in the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)” – REPSFECO. The Association of Ivorian Women Lawyers (AFJCI) also participated in the activity. While using a participatory and interactive approach, the workshop covered various topics, including international standards on forced labor and human trafficking, Côte d’Ivoire’s legal and policy frameworks related to forced labor and human trafficking, understanding the root causes, and preventing forced labor risks.