Gender Ministry gives account of work
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) yesterday took its turn at the meet-the-press series and outlined a number of achievements it has chalked up since the last quarter of 2014.
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From January 2013 to September 2015, the ministry registered 116,000 households onto its flagship project, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
It also registered 8,123 elderly people in five regions onto its ‘Eban’ project by which the elderly received rebate on all Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses, as well as priority treatment at public places, including lorry stations, banks and hospitals.
The sector Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, who presented the ministry’s performance for the last quarter of 2014 and the first half of 2015, said it had finalised work on three policies and would by next month submit them to the Cabinet for approval.
They are the Justice for Children, the National Social Protection and the National School Feeding policies.
On its commitment to pursue programmes to ensure gender equality and equity, Nana Lithur said the ministry had, over the period, focused itself on issues including gender equality and equity and women empowerment, children’s rights promotion, protection and development, social development, human trafficking, domestic violence and securing inclusion for persons with disability.
In line with the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II (GSGDA II) 2014-2017, she said, the ministry’s focus was on achieving the social development and social protection objectives set in the agenda, under its overarching strategy of priority interventions for human development, productivity and employment.
Gender equality
The minister announced that the Cabinet had approved the National Gender Policy, which would provide guidelines, strategies and operations in furtherance of the government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.
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She said the ministry had finalised the Affirmative Action Bill which, when passed into law, would identify and effectively redress areas of social, cultural, economic and educational imbalances, as well as ensure gender equality in the country.
In addition to this, Nana Lithur said the ministry co-sponsored the drafting of the Intestate Succession and the Property Rights of Spouses bills which were currently before the Parliamentary Joint Select Committees on Constitution and Gender.
Children’s rights
On issues of children, she said the ministry had launched the Child and Family Welfare Policy (CfWP) and was in the process of developing a three-tier coordination framework to facilitate its implementation at the national, regional and district levels.
The ministry, she said, was also in the process of establishing a child support unit in accordance with the CfWP to strengthen the enforcement of maintenance orders to alleviate the challenges that caregivers and children faced.
Adoption and fosterage care regulations had been drafted, as well as a central adoption authority which, according to her, would forestal the situation where children were sold in the name of adoption.
Meanwhile, the ministry had provided shelter and care for 800 orphans, trained 1,406 caregivers in the regions and assisted in reuniting 2,234 children in orphanages with their families, as well as closed down 62 orphanages that did not meet the required operational standards, she added.
Social development
The ministry, Nana Lithur said, was undertaking a lot of social development programmes, including LEAP), the School Feeding Programme and the Free School Uniforms Programme, all with the aim of improving the lives of women, children and the vulnerable in society.
The ministry, she said, was also undertaking a project dubbed, “From Street to School”, which aimed at reuniting street children with their families.