Stakeholders at the summit
Stakeholders in the social protection sector have called for increased funding for the delivery of social services to the poor and vulnerable in the country.
According to them, there is a downward trend in the resources available for social protection citing the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection, the led sector agency, as one of the lest funded; receiving less than 0.6 per cent of the total government expenditure.
This, they said, indicates a decreasing prioritization of social and child protection financing, against the increasing levels of poverty and inequality in the country.
“It is urgent to join efforts to ensure sustainable financing for social and child protection in these critical times. Jointly we can explore financing options that have potential to increase fiscal space for children,” they said.
They made the call at the 2022 Summit hosted by the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection on the theme, “Strengthening Resource Mobilisation for Effective Social Service Delivery.”
The two-day summit brought together experts from diverse backgrounds including representatives from development partners, banks, government agencies, NGO’s, CSO’s, academia, the media, private sector among others to share experiences and insights on financing for development and resource mobilization.
Caretaker Minister of the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, in her keynote address read on her behalf said the summit is timely due to the current economic turmoil being experienced the world over.
She indicated that the situation has compelled the government to limit resources to the sector hence the need to identify alternative sources of revenue to deliver on the mandate effectively and efficiently.
Madam Abena Dapaah said despite the funding challenge, the ministry has rolled out critical activities aimed at strengthening the policy and legal environment for gender equality, promoting, and protecting the welfare of children, women, the aged, persons living with disability (PWD’s), and other vulnerable groups.
“This year, the Ghana School Feeding Programme under the Ministry fed 3,448,065 pupils in 10,832 public basic schools with one hot nutritious meal for every school-going day. Currently, we have also enrolled 344,389 households translating into over 1.5 million who are receiving grants from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP),” she said.
The caretaker minister further noted that the Domestic Violence Fund has been operationalised with GH¢1,500,000 and 800 victims of Domestic and Gender-based violence have been supported.
Acting UNICEF Country Representative, Fiachra McAsey said the COVID-19 and the Sahel crisis in neighbouring counties suggest a strong need to invest in social protection to mitigate and respond to future shocks and ensure a strong and resilient child protection system.
“These developments, in addition to the current macroeconomic challenges, require the prioritisation of social protection as a macro-critical sector and child protection during budgeting, release and execution of funds,” he said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri