World Bank Approves US$100million For Social Safety In Ghana

The World Bank has approved a US$100million facility for Ghana to strengthen social intervention programs.

This was announced by the Bank on Tuesday which described the facility as the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project 2 (GPSNP 2).

“The project will support the Government of Ghana to expand and strengthen its social safety net program which will directly benefit over 1.6 million people in the country. The project will help to improve the incomes and productivity of the poor and vulnerable,” the Bank said.

According to the Bank, the pace of poverty reduction has slowed in Ghana, with the association between economic growth and poverty reduction weakened. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying global economic crisis has also served as a major setback to Ghana’s prospects for further reductions in poverty.

“The World Bank is pleased to support this project as it will help to ensure that more poor and vulnerable people have access to basic services and can boost their productivity,” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana. 

He added that, “The project is aligned with the Government’s COVID-19 relief and recovery plans which seeks to protect and restore the economic wellbeing of affected households, workers, and enterprises.”

The project will benefit the poorest households in all regions of Ghana by; providing cash transfers to 350,000 households through the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) reaching 1.5 million individuals; some 60,000 beneficiaries through the Labor-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) program; and supporting 35,000 beneficiaries through productive inclusion activities to enhance the income-generating potential of the poor and vulnerable.

“The project will build on efforts of existing social protection projects by expanding coverage of social protection programs to strengthen performance and impact. Based on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to provide more comprehensive support for the urban poor”, said, Iffath Sharif, World Bank Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice Manager for Western and Central Africa.

According to the World Bank, the GPSNP 2 will extend coverage into urban communities to help tackle pockets of high poverty and vulnerability that exist in these communities. 

It will also scale up the provision of information, communication, and engagement services to safety net program beneficiaries in relation to education, health, financial well-being, gender, and social inclusion.