Ghana shifts from advocacy to enforcement on gender equity, disability inclusion

Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, says Ghana has moved from advocacy to enforcement in advancing gender equity and disability inclusion, with social protection increasingly becoming a legal entitlement.

She said the shift had resulted in significant gains for women, Persons with Disability (PWDs) and older persons, supported by new legislation, regulations and institutional mechanisms.

Dr Lartey made the statement at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Wednesday.

The series, organised by the Presidency Communications Bureau, is aimed at deepening transparency and accountability in governance.

She said the passage of the Social Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1148), and its Regulations, L.I. 2521, in 2026 had anchored the shift by making the Ghana National Household Registry the sole targeting mechanism and establishing a dedicated Social Protection Fund.

On gender equity, the Minister said the implementation framework for the Affirmative Action Gender Equity Act was now fully operational.

She said the Gender Equity Committee and Secretariat required under the Act had been established, while the accompanying Regulations, L.I. 2522, came into force in June 2026.

“The Ministry has sensitised 2,321 stakeholders on their obligations under the Act, and 47 institutions, including ministries, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, and private sector organisations, have already submitted compliance reports,” Dr Lartey said.

The institutions were now legally obligated to take action on gender equity, with monitoring tools in place to ensure compliance and accountability.

The Minister said 37 sensitisation programmes had also reached almost 11,000 people on sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage and harmful cultural practices.

On disability inclusion, Dr Lartey said Cabinet had approved amendments to the Persons with Disability Act, 2006, to align it with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, describing the reform as one that the disability community had awaited for years.

She said 19,760 PWDs had benefited directly from the Disability Common Fund across 208 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

She added that sensitisation programmes on disability-inclusive disaster risk management had been conducted in 11 regions.

The Ministry, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), was formalising the employment of 272 PWD graduates into the GES.

She said the Ministry, working with the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, through the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project, had also procured ICT equipment for seven special schools.

The equipment included desktop computers, laptops, accessible software, Braille displays and embossers, and graphic tablets.

“Installation is complete in three of those schools, with work underway in the remaining four. For students who have never had hands-on access to this kind of technology, this is the first,” Dr Lartey said.

For older persons, the Minister said the Social Protection Act had affirmed what previously depended on charity as a legal right to free healthcare and social assistance.

She said the Ministry continued to provide welfare services to 50 elderly residents at the Central Destitute Infirmary in Bekwai, which had been fully renovated.

Dr Lartey said the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and the National Health Insurance Scheme remained critical mechanisms for delivering social protection services to vulnerable older persons.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Tags:  

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.