Red Cross to meet on child slavery

Red Cross societies from 16 West African nations and their counterparts from industrialised countries meet next week in Dakar, Senegal, to consider measures for fighting child trafficking, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced on Tuesday. One of the ideas they will discuss is a proposal to set up teams to monitor the main ports and to expand dissemination of information about child labour and trafficking, the Federation said in a news release. According to UNICEF, some 200,000 children are trafficked every year in West and Central Africa. Organised crime networks benefit from the exploitation of such children, who are employed on fishing vessels and farms, in prostitution and in sweatshops, UNICEF says.