Forum discusses measures for sustained social protection policy

Discussants at a forum organised by the African Development Programme (ADP) have underscored the need for proactive and sustained measures to enhance the smooth implementation of the social protection policy.

According to them, inadequate human resources, financial constraints and weak institutional bodies were some of the challenges confronting the programme.

They were speaking at a forum on social protection organised under the theme: “The Emergence of Social Protection on the Development Agenda: The role of the Media.”

The forum was used to build the capacity of the media in creating awareness of the social protection policy.

Social protection 

Social protection consists of social intervention designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labour markets, reducing individuals’ exposure to risk and enhancing their capacity to manage economic and social risks, such as sickness, unemployment, disability and old age.

 As part of the social protection programme, Ghana has adopted some social intervention policies such as Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to reduce poverty and improve the welfare of the people.

African Development Programme 

ADP is a civil society organisation that promotes human development through research and monitoring of development programmes by targeting rural and peri-urban communities.

Speakers

Speaking at the forum in Accra, the Director of Social Protection at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr Mawutor Ablo, stressed the need for the introduction of a mechanism that would ensure an effective communication between the ministries and other institutions undertaking the programme.

That, he emphasised, would require the establishment of regional and national committees to facilitate an effective co-ordination among stakeholders of the policy.

While acknowledging the fact that the policy had benefitted more people, Mr Ablo charged stakeholders to enhance the policy by enforcing measures that would help identify the vulnerable in society.

In his presentation, the Executive Director of Morbu Policy Institute, Dr William Ahadzie, said: “Social protection policy offers vulnerable people in society an opportunity to earn a living,” and added that the policy required a constant funding to provide sustainable development opportunities for beneficiaries.

He said the funding would also enable the enrolment of more people to benefit from the policy, noting that social protection was the right of the individual and not to be seen as a charity initiative.

The Vice President of ADP, Mr Charles Abbey, also confirmed the fact that for every new policy, there would be some challenges, and urged organisations to partner the government to ensure a sustainable policy.