Social Protection in Ghana

Abstract

Along the second half of 2007, the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger took part in three technical missions to Ghana to give assistance to the newest and most significant Social Protection Programme in this African country: the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP). Ghana designed its National Social Protection Strategy focusing on LEAP, which is based on the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) of the country. The Programme starts with a 5-year pilot experience in which the main components are conditional and unconditional cash transfers to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), the elderly above 65 years old and the disabled. In the next five years, the Programme aims at reaching about 160,000 families living in extreme poverty. Last March, LEAP had already made its first cash transfer, and by June, the Programme should cover about 3,200 families in 20 districts throughout the country. By the end of 2008 the Programme expects to cover 15,000 families in 50 districts. (...)No segundo semestre de 2007, o Ministério