Barclays Bank Ghana has donated GH¢45,420 (£20,000) to Challenging Heights, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), towards the improvement of lives of children and the youth affected by human trafficking and other forms of abuse in Ghana.
Challenging Heights utilizes education, economic empowerment and community mobilisation to achieve its objectives.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Managing Director of Barclays Ghana, Mr. Benjamin Dabrah, said Barclays believes in the development of the youth and underprivileged that explains why a greater part of the bank's Community Investment (Corporate Social Responsibility) for the first half of this year had been channelled towards children welfare.
Some of the organisations, which have benefited so far include Mentori Ghana (provides business advisory services to the SMEs), Streetinvest (Trains local organisations that support street workers) and the Nadowli Assembly Women Advocacy Group (Advocacy for women and children's rights).
"We believe that the presentation to Challenging Heights and other NGOs will supplement the efforts of government to alleviate poverty in impoverished communities", Mr. Dabrah said.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of challenging Heights, Mr. James Kofi Annan, who is a former staff of Barclays Ghana, expressed gratitude for the donation.
He said the donation from Barclays would help improve the lives of the people and impact positively on the organisation's activities.
According to Challenging Heights, over 24,000 children in Ghana fall victim to the worst forms of child labour annually.
The worst affected are children between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.
The assistance from Barclays Ghana is to enable Challenging Heights provide psychosocial recovery and educational opportunities to the rescued children.