
The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection has organized a capacity-building workshop aimed at enhancing the skills of officers involved in the reassessment of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme. The workshop, held on October 1, 2024, at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho, brought together officers from various sectors in the Greater Accra Region. Participants included Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Coordinating Directors, Information Officers, Planning Officers, Statistical Officers, and Social Welfare Officers.
This one-day workshop focused on equipping the officers with specialized research methodologies to ensure the collection of accurate and reliable data for the government’s review and updating of LEAP-related policies. The LEAP Programme, which provides financial assistance to vulnerable households, is currently undergoing reassessment to improve its effectiveness and reach.
Participants were introduced to the LEAP Reassessment strategy, the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR), and the scale-up process for LEAP reassessment. The workshop also covered the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, case management for reassessment, public information campaigns, and the monitoring and spot-check procedures required for reassessment. Additional modules included ethical data collection, identifying target households, and community mapping.
LEAP Programme Faces Challenges, Leading to Calls for Reassessment
Mr. Colson Akanbasiam, Head of Communication at the LEAP Programme, speaking on behalf of the Director of LMS, highlighted the significant progress made by LEAP over the years. However, he also raised concerns about certain challenges affecting the programme’s implementation.
One key issue mentioned was the discovery that some officers, who were supposed to serve within the programme’s value chain, had been listed as beneficiaries. Additionally, some staff had indirectly abandoned their posts, which has hindered legitimate beneficiaries from accessing their funds.
Mr. Akanbasiam stressed the need for a comprehensive reassessment of the LEAP Programme, a call that has gained support among stakeholders across Ghana. He noted that this reassessment goes beyond the traditional scope of Social Welfare and emphasized the importance of organizing a “training of trainers” workshop to equip officers with the skills needed to lead the reassessment process.
He further explained that the LEAP Programme was designed with specific goals, including improving household consumption and nutrition, increasing access to healthcare, boosting school enrollment for children of school-going age, and facilitating access to complementary services in support of the government’s poverty reduction efforts.
Since its inception in 2008, the LEAP Programme has expanded every two years, with extreme poverty serving as the benchmark for inclusion. The recent workshop aims to prepare officers to conduct high-quality research that will support the reassessment of government programmes like LEAP, ensuring that they continue to address the needs of vulnerable populations effectively.