GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO USE SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE POVERTY

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has said the government will continue to use social interventions like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) to provide conditional and unconditional cash grants targeted at reducing poverty, exclusion and vulnerability amongst the extremely poor households with orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), persons with disabilities, the aged 65 years and above with no productive capacity as well as extremely poor pregnant women with children under 1 year.

It also said more than 213,000 households in all the 216 districts have been registered and plans are far advanced in linking LEAP beneficiaries to other social protection services and programmes such as income generating activities such cash plus.

These were contained in a statement released and signed by the ministry and signed by the sector minister Otico Afisa Djaba in commemoration of the International Day for Eradication of Poverty, which is observed on 17 October every year.

It said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as a nationwide social protection intervention,   is intended to promote universal access to basic healthcare through public, mutual and private health insurance schemes, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) have registered 83,300 indigents.

Another important social protection intervention introduce by the government is The Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), which has increased school enrolment, attendance and retention, reduce hunger and malnutrition and boost domestic food production.

Finally, Capitation Grant was also introduced in Ghana in other to provide funding for Basic Schools for non-salary expenditure in public schools on the basis of enrolment.

It was intended to remove tuition and fee requirements. It brings an opportunity for poor parents to send their wards to school without having to worry about school fees.

The government of Ghana has also introduced Free Senior High School programme to help give opportunity to every child in Ghana to be educated and leap out of poverty. It has now been established that 424,092 students qualified for admission in the various Senior High Schools (SHS) as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools under the Ghana Education Service (GES) across the country.

”The call to eradicate poverty is far from over yet and the enormous challenges remain. However, there is the assurance that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and other government agencies will continue to support the poor and give them a dignified life just like any other Ghanaian” she added.

Source, Otecfmghana.com/Gyamerah Louis