Ghana launches national social protection policy

Ghana on Monday launched a national social protection policy (SPP), the government's key document to regulate all social protection interventions, as it aspires to bridge the inequality gap and reduce poverty.

The policy provides a framework for delivering social protection in a way that is holistic and properly targeted.

It is expected to help Ghana to fulfill its constitutional duty to create a more equitable and poverty-free nation.

In a message to launch the document, Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama said the SPP was in line with the overall objective of Ghana's Constitution which calls for the establishment of a framework that shall secure liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity.

He said Ghana was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal One of eradicating extreme poverty before the target year of 2015.

This, he said, was achieved through sound social and economic strategies aimed at human development and industrialization which sets it on a path of achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda.

"With this innovative policy, we are on the right path to achieving rapid national development," said Mahama, whose statement was read by Rashid Pelpuo, Minister of State in charge of private sector development.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, said the government's vision of social protection was to promote the well-being of Ghanaians through an integrated platform of effective social assistance, social and productive inclusion, social insurance, and financial access to social services.

"We aspire to mitigate and reduce vulnerabilities, close the inequality gap and ensure total inclusion for all Ghanaians," she said.

The Representative of UNICEF to Ghana, Susan Namondo Ngongi, described the policy as a major milestone in the country's efforts to reduce poverty and inequality.

The social intervention programs being implemented in Ghana include the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty, a cash transfer system to poor households, the Ghana School Feeding Program, the National Health Insurance Scheme, Free School Uniform and Free Exercise books. Endit