The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has announced that the government will begin disbursing outstanding payments under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme from next week.
She explained that the outstanding payments were not due to a lack of funds, but delays associated with the reassessment and onboarding of beneficiaries.
According to Dr Lartey, the Ministry has now made significant progress with the reassessment and onboarding process and is ready to commence the payment of the outstanding amounts.
She said the disbursement would continue from next week through to the end of the year until all outstanding periods had been covered.
Dr Lartey disclosed this during a Community Dialogue Series on Social Protection and other Social Issues held at Osu in the Korle Klottey Constituency.
The engagement formed part of efforts by the Ministry to take information on government’s social protection programmes directly to communities and ensure that citizens understand the interventions available to them.
Dr Lartey said the government’s commitment went beyond formulating laws and policies, stressing that such policies must translate into practical benefits for citizens.
She said it was important for people to understand what social protection meant, what opportunities were available and how they could access government interventions designed to improve their livelihoods.
“What is the essence of making a law if the people don’t understand what the law is meant to do for them?” she asked.
The Minister said the Ministry was therefore taking governance closer to the people by engaging communities and providing them with information on social interventions.
She disclosed that the exercise was being undertaken in collaboration with the Municipal Assembly and the Member of Parliament.
The community engagement also included National Health Insurance registration, which she said was important because some social interventions required beneficiaries to have valid National Health Insurance cards.
Dr Lartey also raised concerns about the role of caregivers who collect LEAP payments on behalf of beneficiaries who are unable to travel or access the funds themselves.
She said although such caregivers were often trusted to assist vulnerable beneficiaries, some sometimes failed to ensure that the money reached the intended recipients.
She therefore called for stronger community and institutional monitoring of LEAP payments.
According to her, parliamentarians and district assemblies would be engaged to help the Ministry monitor beneficiaries and ensure that payments reached the rightful recipients.
She said the Ministry would also continue educating communities about the payment schedule so that beneficiaries and their families could better monitor the process.
The Minister stressed that social protection should not be considered the responsibility of government alone.
She called for greater involvement of civil society organisations, traditional authorities, religious bodies, families and communities in protecting vulnerable people.
Dr Lartey said some forms of vulnerability and violence occurred within households, making it important for communities to remain vigilant and report cases through the appropriate channels.
She encouraged citizens to make use of the Ministry’s toll-free lines to report cases of violence and other social protection concerns.
Gender policy
On the National Gender Policy, Dr Lartey said the policy had been revised and launched and that the Ministry had already begun working with it.
She said the revised policy drew inspiration from the Affirmative Action Act and other legislation dealing with gender-related issues.
She assured that the Ministry would continue implementing the policy to promote gender equality and strengthen interventions designed to protect and empower vulnerable groups.
