Dignitaries at the event
UNICEF Ghana has engaged stakeholders on the need to see social protection as an inherent entitlement or right, rather than as charity for programme beneficiaries.
The meeting brought together key players from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, researchers, NGOs, CSOs and the media to discuss the extent to which rights-principles have been integrated into routine social protection programmes.
It was also to enable participants reflect on how rights-principles have been built in social protection efforts as a nation while identifying some possibilities for its sustainability.
The maiden meeting held in Accra was themed, “Are Ghanaians receiving the social protection they deserve?”
Deputy Country Director for UNICEF, Aarti Saihjee, in her address commended the country for the various social protection programmes being rolled-out.
She indicated that it was important to reflect on how rights-principles are built into the country’s social protection efforts because embedding rights-principles in social protection affects how programmes are designed, implemented and the outcomes expected in reducing poverty and vulnerability.
“Embedding rights-principles in social protection is crucial in ensuring that citizens receive the kind of social protection they need throughout their lifecycle and are empowered to ask questions when faced with delivery gaps.
This puts a responsibility on the state and service providers to create the necessary enabling environment for effective and efficient programme delivery,” she said.
This she said will ensure for example consistency in the flow of funds to social protection programmes and for the progressive implementation of a national social protection floor to ensure all Ghanaians have access to social protection when they need it.
She said UNICEF is committed to working with its partners to promote the application of rights-principles in social protection delivery and called on stakeholders to embrace the new direction that social protection has taken in developing countries.
General Manager of Agricultural Workers Union, Mr. Kinsley Ofei Nkansah in his address said in spite of the progress made by the country in the introduction of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), some people still live in poverty.
He thus emphasized the need for a holistic social protection scheme approach which he believes will improve the lives of the about three million Ghanaians living in poverty.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri & Nadia Nimako