National Policy on Social Protection launched

Europa

June 14, 2016 1:22 PM

The system is expected to be delivered through income support, livelihood empowerment and improved access to social interventions of basic services.

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Ghana on Monday launched the National Social Protection Policy with the aim of delivering a well-coordinated and inter-sectoral social protection system that would allow people to live in dignity.

According to the Minister of Gender Children and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur said the document has three main objectives. These she said include "providing effective and efficient social assistance to reduce poverty by 2030, promote productive inclusion and decent work to sustain families and vulnerable communities, and to increase access to formal social security and social insurance for all Ghanaians".

Representative of President Mahama, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, a Minister of State at the Presidency, in-charge of Public Private Partnership, said "the policy sets the structures for equitable distribution of resources, thereby, empowering the vulnerable in society and further establishing an institutional framework for co-ordination".

He also commended the Ministry for launching a braille version of the policy for the visually impaired. He further promised government's unflinching support to "facilitate and create the needed environment for social protection and inclusion of vulnerable groups to ensure equity and development".

Nana Oye Lithur said the government had also developed a Social Protection Bill that was currently at the Attorney General’s Department for consideration. She said the bill when passed "would strengthen the legal environment in creating a stronger social protection framework that empowered and protected all persons".

She affirmed government’s commitment towards the reduction of social inequalities in the coming years.

Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, the Lead Consultant to the development of the Policy, in an overview, said the vision of the Policy though ambitious and aspirational, was achievable in the short, medium and long term. She said in the short-term, the focus of national social protection shall be "on achieving impacts and transforming lives at the household levels of extremely poor Ghanaians, while the medium-term aimed at closing the gaps in the desired social protection floor and scaling the interventions to address the needs of the poor". In the long-term, it is anticipated that social protection will be extended to all sections of the population.

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