Govt committed to strengthening social protection — Gender Ministry
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection (MOGCSP), Lariba Zuweira Abudu, has affirmed the government’s commitment to promote gender equality, safeguard the rights of children and strengthen the country’s social protection mechanisms.
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She said the government understood that a nation’s true prosperity lay in the well-being of its citizens and it was for that reason that they were dedicated to fostering an inclusive society where no one was left behind.
She said that in a speech read on her behalf by a Deputy Minister, Francisca Oteng Mensah, at the fifth social protection dialogue series organised by the MOGCSP.
It was on the theme: “Enhancing the well-being of vulnerable Ghanaians through effective social protection systems”.
“The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection stands for an inclusive society that ensures all citizens have equal opportunity to participate in nation building.
We stand for a society where persons living with disability, children, women and men irrespective of their status have the chance to realise their full potential,” she said.
Guaranteed relief
Ms Abudu said it was in recognition of the need to ensure that citizens were guaranteed relief from destitution; realised their basic rights; and enabled their effective participation in socio-economic life, that the MOGCSP was implementing the National Social Protection Policy that aspired to mitigate and reduce vulnerabilities for all, close the inequality gap and ensure inclusion for all.
Participants in the event
She disclosed that the second phase implementation plan of the policy (2023-2033), which would be launched today, would provide the direction and guide social protection programming and delivery in Ghana for the next five to 10 years.
Ms Abudu said the MOGCSP had also developed a social protection bill which had been approved by Cabinet and presented to Parliament for consideration and passage into an Act.
“We are continuously improving and streamlining all social protection interventions. For instance, we have doubled the LEAP cash grant for the beneficiaries.
“Regarding the Ghana School Feeding Programme, we have so far increased coverage to over 3.8 million pupils in over 11,000 schools in Ghana.
We have also increased the feeding rate per pupil and continually working with key stakeholders to ensure effective service delivery,” she said.
Social protection
The team leader, Macro-economic and Trade Section of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Ghana, Timothy Dolan, said the EU had long recognised the relevance of social protection as a fundamental human right and a cornerstone of their shared values.
He gave an assurance that the EU would continue to collaborate with its global and Ghanaian partners in all areas related to social protection and food security, leading by example.
He said in Ghana, the EU was supporting more than 50,000 vulnerable people to grapple with food insecurity in the north, while empowering communities to build resilient and profitable production systems.
The Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme, Barbara Tulu Clemens, said a lot of work had been done in systems strengthening through capacity building with the Ghana School Feeding Programme, LEAP, Ghana National Household Registry, School of Social Work, focusing also on the linkage between crisis response and social protection.
