Cabinet has approved three policies developed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
This brings to five the number of policies developed by the Ministry and approved by Cabinet in 2015.
The New Policies are the National Social Protection Policy, the School Feeding Policy and the Justice for Children Policy.
The Child and Family Welfare Policy and the National Gender Policy have already been launched in 2015.
The Communication Advisor of the Ministry Abraham Asare said this is “part of Government’s plan to improve the policy framework in respect of protecting the rights of children and improving social protection in Ghana”.
According to him, the National Social Protection Policy provides a framework for coherent social protection system.
Mr. Asare said “the policy will provide mechanisms to protect persons living in situations of extreme poverty and related vulnerability and exclusion. It will create an all-inclusive and socially empowered society”.
He explained that through this policy, the inequality gap will be closed.
He added that “in the short-term the social protection focuses on facilitating the implementation of five flagship programmes, namely, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW), the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the National Health Insurance (NHIS) Exemptions and the Basic Education Capitation Grants”.
He also indicated that the goal of the School Feeding Policy is to have a well-organized, decentralized intervention system.
He said this will help provide disadvantaged school children with “nutritionally adequate, locally produced food”.
The third policy Cabinet approved is the Justice for Children Policy.
This Policy addresses both criminal and civil cases involving children.
This according to Mr. Abraham Asare will help “promote the wellbeing of children, prevents violence, exploitation and abuse”.
The overall goal of this Policy is to improve access to justice for children in line with acceptable standards, values and beliefs of the formal and community justice system.
He also stated that a Child Support Unit will be established under the policy.
The Unit will among other functions, file cases in court on behalf of applicants against parents not contributing to the welfare of their children.
He finally said the Ministry will launch the three policies this year and subsequently rollout a plan for their implementation.
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By: Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh/citifmonline.com/Ghana