Gender Ministry launches Social Protection Policy
A National Social Protection Policy that seeks to provide a holistic approach to the protection of the most vulnerable in the Ghanaian society has been launched in Accra.
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The 58-page policy provides for an all-inclusive and socially empowered society through the provision of mechanisms to protect people living in situations of extreme poverty, related vulnerability and exclusion.
The document, which has a braille version, is an initiative of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Government’s commitment
The Minister of State in charge of Public/Private Partnerships, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, who launched the policy on behalf of President John Mahama yesterday, said the policy underscored the government’s commitment to build a prosperous and equitable society.
He said the positive outcome of the various social interventions was a clear indication that social protection was a recognised tool for poverty eradication, as well as a way to bridge the gap between inequalities among the people.
The policy, he indicated, reflected the government’s commitment to reduce all forms of poverty, achieve full and productive employment for all, including young people and people with disabilities, and substantially increase access to formal social security for Ghanaians in working age and older people.
The policy
The six-chapter document focuses on the implementation of social intervention programmes, namely, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW) and the School Feeding Programme (SFP).
The rest are the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Exemptions and the Basic Education Capitation Grant.
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The policy aims at a well-coordinated, inter-sectoral social protection system to ensure effective implementation and coordination and enabling people to live in dignity through income support, livelihood empowerment and improved systems of basic services.
Significant strides
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social protection, Nana Oye Lithur, in her address, said the policy sought to promote the well-being of Ghanaians through an integrated platform of effective social assistance and productive inclusion, social insurance and financial access to social services.
She explained that the policy was anchored on a number of policies and programmes, including the National Development Planning framework and the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To build further on the policy, she said, the government had developed a Social Protection Bill which was currently at the Attorney-General’s Department for consideration.
The bill and the policy, she explained, would strengthen the legal environment by creating a stronger social protection framework that empowered and protected all people.
Nana Oye said the government had made significant strides in the implementation of social protection initiatives.
The LEAP, for instance, she said, had increased from 1,645 beneficiary households (21 districts) in 2008 to 146,074 (185 districts) as of June 2016 and was expected to expand to 200,000 by the end of 2016, she said.
In addition, 52,082 persons with disabilities and 751 inmates of witch camps had benefitted from the programme, while the LEAP 1,000 was also targeting pregnant and lactating mothers with children less than a year to address malnutrition and stunting among children, she added.
Under the SFP, she said, about 1,728,681 children from 216 districts were benefitting currently, adding that 82,154 out of LEAP beneficiary households had been registered freely on the NHIS.
Nana Oye thanked the development partners for their technical and financial support in Ghana’s social protection system.
Messages
In his solidarity message, the Ambassador of the European Union to Ghana, Mr William Hanna, commended the government of Ghana for its commitment to social inequalities over the years.
With the policy, he said, the government now had the capacity to offer its citizens and implement an inclusive and efficient social protection system which consisted of effective social assistance.
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While congratulating Ghana on its achievements in social protection, the Country Representative of UNICEF in Ghana, Ms Susan Namondo Ngongi, said the policy was a major milestone to reducing poverty in Ghana.