The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) held a two-day residential training workshop on forced labour in marine fisheries, on the 29-30 September 2022 in Accra, Ghana.

The activity was organized under the ILO 8.7 Accelerator Lab Programme to build the capacity of media professionals to report on the marine fisheries sub-sector’s forced labour issues. The 8.7 Accelerator Programme is meant to speed up efforts to meet Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to achieve economic growth and decent work for all.

Over 20 journalists in Ghana had their contextual knowledge built up on national and international legal frameworks governing forced labour, how to detect forced labour using a set of ILO-developed indicators, and how to report forced labour using journalism principles on human rights.

Key outcomes of this workshop include: the establishment of SOMOPAC-Plus (a media network focused on Target 8.7); and the compilation of a list of forced labour-focused story ideas to be developed.

The training adds to the list of FCWC efforts to develop decent working conditions in fisheries in the region. In October 2019, the FCWC held a regional technical seminar to increase awareness of human rights in the fishing sector. In April 2022, the FCWC organized a workshop to discuss the preliminary findings of a research study project on the working conditions, labour and safety realities in Ghana’s fisheries sector.