Laws and enforcement shape what’s possible on the water and along the shore. When well-designed and fairly enforced, they safeguard marine ecosystems, secure community rights, and ensure sustainable livelihoods. Yet, across many coastal areas, policy gaps and weak enforcement allow illegal practices such as destructive fishing, resource grabbing, and rights violations to persist. This denies justice to affected communities and undermines national commitments to sustainability.
At Friends of the Nation (FoN), we believe that strong laws and accountable enforcement are the backbone of ocean justice. Communities must not only know their rights but also trust that legal and governance systems will protect those rights when challenged.
FoN’s Approach & Activities
FoN pursues evidence-based advocacy that strengthens institutions and ensures accountability, working across both the formal legal system and community structures:
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Capacity Building Across the Prosecutorial Chain
We train and support judiciary members, prosecutors, and the marine police to improve investigation, coordination, and adjudication of fisheries infractions. These efforts ensure that when communities raise concerns, the cases are properly built and fairly judged. -
Community Data for Policy Reform
Through our Ocean Justice and Livelihood Campaign, we collect and analyze data from community monitoring groups and feed it into legal and policy processes. This helps close the gap between laws on paper and realities at sea, making reforms more responsive to small-scale fishers’ experiences. -
Facilitating Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue
FoN convenes platforms where government institutions, private sector actors, civil society, and fishing communities sit together to address enforcement challenges. These dialogues build trust, foster collaboration, and generate practical commitments for change.
Key Achievements & Indicators
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Prosecutions supported by community-sourced evidence.
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Policy reforms and regulatory clarifications influenced by FoN’s advocacy.
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Frequency and quality of multi-stakeholder fora, including documented commitments and follow-up actions.
These indicators reflect real shifts in how laws are applied and enforced, moving towards fairness, accountability, and justice for coastal communities.
Partnerships
FoN collaborates with:
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Legal NGOs and bar associations,
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Enforcement agencies and marine police,
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Judiciary and prosecutors,
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Regional governance bodies.
Together, we close the gap between law on paper and law in practice, ensuring coastal communities’ benefit from the protections they are promised.
Support our work
You can stand with fishers and coastal communities in advancing ocean justice. Join us by:
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Supporting legal aid funds that give fishers access to justice.
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Attending policy roundtables and lending your voice to reform efforts.
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Funding prosecutions and training that make laws enforceable, fair, and effective.
Every action helps ensure that Ghana’s coastal communities live under laws that protect, not exploit.