Geneva - Tens of thousands of children are trafficked in western and central Africa and exploited as beggars and workers on plantations and in homes, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said yesterday.
In a report, the United Nations agency urged firm action against networks of traffickers who either abduct children or trick poverty-stricken parents into sending them away for work. The report, Combating Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa, was based on interviews with children and parents in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Togo.