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The aim of this study is to understand the complexity of child poverty in Ghana by investigating children's access to various goods and services crucial for their long-term development. It is also aimed at establishing the baseline for measuring part of target indicator 1.2.2 of the SDGs, which seeks to “reduce by half, the proportion of children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions”. In addition, the profile of the most vulnerable Ghanaian children will be drawn based on various socio-economic, household and geographic characteristics to guide…
ABSTRACT
This article assesses the contribution of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in reducing rural poverty in the Karaga district of Northern Ghana, using a mixed research design to compare the livelihoods of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. It concludes that the programme is contributing to poverty reduction among the poor and vulnerable, and recommends that school children benefiting from LEAP should be exempted from paying extra expenses such as examination and PTA fees. There should also be a system to provide subsidies for agriculture inputs to enable…
Abstract
Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in almost any population because of their physical and emotional dependence on adults and social status. Their vulnerability is greater in developing countries because of the higher incidence of poverty and fewer social protection mechanisms in place compared to industrialized countries. In most developing countries, children are not the explicit recipients of the unprecedented growth in social protection efforts but do benefit from its expansion. This paper looks at how social protection is evolving in developing countries and how it…
This report was written by Keetie Roelen and Helen Karki Chettri from the Centre for Social Protection (CSP) at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), with inputs and support from Family for Every Child and Challenging Heights, Ghana. The report investigates the links between child wellbeing, children’s care, family cohesion and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP), a national social protection scheme in Ghana which aims to reduce extreme poverty in the country and is centred on providing cash transfers to the most vulnerable…
The Government of Ghana has established a relatively comprehensive legal framework for child protection, guided by the Constitution and the Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560). This Child and Family Welfare Policy has been updated to address many of the issues and problematic areas of the existing Child Protection System. This Child and Family Welfare Policy seeks to establish a well-structured and coordinated Child and Family Welfare system that promotes the wellbeing of children, prevents abuse and protects children from harm. The overall goal of the Policy is to help formulate child and family…
In 2013 The Better Care Network and Save the Children UK began an inter-agency initiative to review and share existing knowledge on international volunteerism as related to the alternative care of children in developing countries. This initiative brings together key actors from across the child protection, education, corporate, faith-based and tourism sectors to share their respective experiences and identify global communication and engagement strategies to address the issue.
The purpose of this study was not to conduct formal academic research on the topic of volunteering in…
This overview is intended to contribute to discussions on international volunteering in residential care centres as an anecdotal research piece on the situation in Ghana. Ghana was chosen as a focus country due to recommendations from a range of informants who raised concerns about extent of the practice in residential care centres in Ghana. Availability of research also contributed to the choice of Ghana as a country focus.
This overview was informed by online resources, academic and institutional literature, and interviews with informants.
Better Care Network, Better Care Network…
This policy brief from the World Bank provides an overview of cash transfers in African countries. The brief defines “cash transfers” and their uses. The brief also lists key design elements of cash transfer programs in Africa, including the opportunities for innovation that cash transfer programs create, the accountability mechanisms in place, and the monitoring and evaluation. The brief highlights the differences between conditional and unconditional transfers and cash and non-cash transfers and the evidence on whether conditional or unconditional transfers are a better model. The brief…
This chapter provides an overview of a child care institution, the Osu Children’s Home, in Ghana. The chapter describes the referral process at the home, the ages of the children at admission, and the background of the children’s parents. The chapter poses the question: “why are children placed in institutions?” and offers several explanations, including abandonment, death of a parent, physical or mental disability of a parent, “destitution” of the family, or being in a conflict situation.
Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana
We examine the impact of orphanhood on children’s school enrollment in 10 Sub-Saharan African countries. Although poorer children in Africa are less likely to attend school, the lower enrollment of orphans is not accounted for solely by their poverty. We find orphans are less likely to be enrolled than are non-orphans with whom they live. Consistent with Hamilton’s Rule, the theory that the closeness of biological ties governs altruistic behavior, outcomes for orphans depend on the relatedness of orphans to their household heads. The lower enrollment of orphans is largely explained caregivers…