Cecilia Abena Dapaah
Caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cecilia Abena Dapaah says the government has introduced electronic systems to facilitate proper coordination of its social protection programmes.
She said the move would also help in the effective management of violence and other forms of challenges faced by vulnerable people in the country.
Speaking at a Meet the Press session organised by the Ministry of Information, the minister explained that in line with government’s digitalisation agenda, the ministry has taken to digital platforms as a one stop point for citizens to report grievances about the implementation of major social protection flagship programmes and at the same time provide a support platform for the vulnerable in the country.
Providing details of these digital platforms, Mrs. Dapaah who doubles as the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation said government has so far introduced numerous support platforms to address sexual and gender-based violence and help in the proper coordination of the ministry’s activities.
Orange Support Centre
She said “the Orange Support Centre (OSC) is a technology platform that aims at providing information and support for survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence including child marriage in Ghana.”
She said the OSC has the call-in section (a toll free line) and the mobile app referred to as the Boame, adding that there is a team of volunteers in the health, legal and psychosocial sectors who render relevant services in their fields of work to victims or survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence through the app that allows for strict confidentiality and assures reporters’ safety while providing evidential reports.
Single Window
Mrs. Dapaah also said as part of the ministry’s effort to improve coordination for social protection programmes, the ministry has operationalised a Single Window Citizen Engagement Services.
The system provides a one stop point for citizens to report grievances for redress about the implementation of the major social protection flagship programmes like the School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and the Education Capitation Grant.
Household Registry
The Ghana National Household Registry serves as a national data repository for the targeting and selection of the extreme poor in Ghana to benefit from social intervention programmes. She said so far, data has been collected in the five northern regions of the country that has helped government in the formulation of policies directed at the poor in these regions.