Director for Civil Society Platform for Social Protection, Ghana (CSPSP-GH), Auberon Jeleel Odoom, has called on government to adopt the bill on Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) in order to ensure beneficiaries livelihoods are protected.

He revealed that his outfit is working towards ensuring that the social protection of the vulnerable and Ghanaians at large is enshrined in law and made more of a “rights-based approach”. Mr Odoom indicated that the passage of the bill will help address some key challenges confronting beneficiaries in accessing funds due them.

“I think it’s more compelling for government to support LEAP when it is much more enshrined in law. So, we are looking at this opportunity that government will adopt the current bill that is still on the table and has not moved to parliament yet. We also are looking at situation where government will come through and make sure that they do something about the delays. We are still pushing very hard [and] there’s a lot of advocacies from different quarters…”
Auberon Jeleel Odoom

Commenting on an impact analysis conducted by civil society organisations including SEND Ghana and CSPSP-GH on delay of funds for LEAP beneficiaries, Mr Odoom explained that government hasn’t also been forthcoming with information on the subject matter. He maintained that due to this, there’s a lot of pressure on many households who largely depend on these funds for survival.

“When you look at a household that does not feed three square meals a day or cannot even have one meal per day and they are depending on this particular income to be able to eat, then that’s quite challenging. It’s [a] very frustrating and worrying situation”.
Auberon Jeleel Odoom

Challenges with LEAP funds disbursement

According to Mr Odoom, the current challenge confronting the Platform is the lack of a defined timeline on when funds will be made available for disbursement to beneficiaries. He lamented that in the grand scheme of things, social intervention falls through the crack when listed among other governmental projects, a situation he described as “worrying”.

“It’s a big dilemma because government does not have the funds to do this and yet government needs to promote and protect the rights of its citizens. So, I think we need to find balance; that is trying to make sure at least, even if government should default, it should not default for too long because that will be quite difficult for these citizens. We have always thought that this social intervention should always be predictable for the beneficiaries and every now and then it is delaying. So, I think we really need to do something about it. Because even if you look at social intervention which is a very critical thing for government, the government is not looking at it, then what about the other things that government should actually dedicate resources to”.
Auberon Jeleel Odoom

Following this, the Director for CSPSP-GH iterated that the issue of priority when it comes to governmental issues must be relooked. He expressed that due to government’s seeming indifference, social intervention is gradually shifting to look more like “charity type of intervention” than a human rights action.