Experts review social protection policy
A process to review the social protection policy of the country has started in Accra. Presently, social protection experts drawn from academia, civil society and other institutions are meeting to come up with interventions that would help improve on the country’s social welfare system.
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The experts consultative forum was organised by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP).
Emerging social needs
The sector Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, who addressed the opening session, said there was the need to come up with appropriate social services that would respond to the current emerging social issues such as poverty, widening social inequality gaps, migration and working parents, among others.
According to her, the current growing population, with its attendant social problems, calls for a more responsive social welfare system for the country.
She said the designation of the DSW will soon be changed to Department of Social Protection (DSP) to reflect current trends.
Presently, she said, the DSW was functioning under challenging times but promised that with the transformation that was about to take place in the next few years, the department would be well resourced to handle its mandate.
She said the skills of staff would be enhanced, particularly at the district levels, and that other human resource needs of the department would be addressed.
Government tasked
The Dean of Academic Affairs of Ashesi University, Professor Nana Araba Apt, who chaired the meeting, said the government must respond adequately to the changing needs of society.
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“It is only when the social development of the people is taken seriously that the entire development of the country could be achieved,” she stressed.
She said the experts would be expected to explore how social services could be incorporated at the community level to bring social workers closer to the people.
Curbing social vices
In a presentation on ‘Social problems and social work in Ghana: Implication for social welfare interventions, Dr Mavis Dako-Gyeke of the University of Ghana said the present social challenges being faced in the country were the repercussion of the forces of globalisation and modernisation.
According to her, the only way to stem the challenges was through effective partnership and collaboration between communities and social workers.
She said there was the need to create awareness of the relevance of social workers in the communities and districts so that they could play their roles more effectively.
Dr Dako-Gyeke, who is with the Department of Social Work of the university, said it was only through effective social intervention policies that the current spate of social vices such as domestic violence, drug abuse and child neglect, among others, which cut across societies, could be curbed.
Some of the experts in their contributions called on the government to adequately resource the ministry to carry out its mandate.