GNHR Consensus Building Workshop In The Upper West Region

To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of social protection programs, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) proposed the establishment of the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR) as a tool that serves to assist social protection programs to identify, prioritize, and select and enroll households living in vulnerable conditions to ensure that different social programs effectively reach their target populations.

The GNHR involves the registration of households and collection of basic information on their socio-economic status. The data from the registry can then be shared across social protection programs.

A two-day “Consensus Building Workshop” was held from the 15^th – 16^th July, at the SEM B Hotel in Wa, capital of the Upper West Region, to establish the necessary support systems based on which the NTU can roll the process of Data Collection for the Ghana National Household Registry.

The workshop brought together over 60 identified key stakeholders, from the UWR, including the Regional Minister and the Chief Director of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, and the decentralized authorities at the District level who would be involved in the Roll Out.

The workshop was further strengthened by the presence of the Chief Director, Director of PPME and Acting Head of Social Protection and Officers from the MoGCSP, Director RSIM, LGSS, to provide the necessary orientation and initial training in preparation for the full scale roll out of the GNHR. The workshop also enjoyed the support and commitment from the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), through their presence and full participation and commitment to the process. The NTU Team, led by the Coordinator provided the specific technical input for rolling out theGNHR.

The objectives of the Workshop were:

1. To meet with identifiable authorities in the Upper West Region, present the GNHR program, get their buy-in and solicit support for full implementation
2. Identify the existing decentralized structures of government to help the NTU carry through the implementation process.
3. To identify the most effective ways of community mobilization and public information and education, adapted to the Upper West Region

Participants agreed the following specific objectives of the GNHR, as intended to:

a) Facilitate the classification of potential beneficiary households for social programs in an objective, homogeneous and equitable manner

b) Support inter-institutional coordination to improve the impact of social spending and the elimination of duplication

c) Allow the development of accurate socio-economic analyses on poverty to support development of plans, and the design and development of specific programs targeted to vulnerable and/or low-income sectors

d) Contribute to institutional strengthening of MoGCSP, through the implementation of a reliable and modern system of social information.

The understanding that the GNHR will be used across social protection programs (including LEAP, LIPW, and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), etc.) to target extremely poor beneficiaries, thus removing redundancy across programs in the targeting processes was harmonized.

At the end of the two-day workshop participants adopted the following conclusions and resolutions:

1. The Regional Minister, HonourableAlhajiAmidu A. Sulemani,and the Regional Coordinating Council made a commitment to provide total support for the full realization and successful implementation of the GNHR in the UWR. To this end, the Regional Minister assured the Directorate of Social Protection and the NTU Team, of the human, technical and material resources of his Region, to support the roll-out of the GNHR.
2. Participants applauded the commitment from SADA to support the roll-out of GHNR project in the UWR and the entire SADA regions through in-kind and cash support as well as technical support in representing information on social protection in the SADA zone. This commitment is in recognition of the fact that SADA will be a direct beneficiary of the Household Register, once it is achieved
3. Participants endorsed the Guidelines for the establishment and operationalization of the Regional, District and Community Social Protection Committees (RSPCC, DSPSs and CSPCs), with the appropriate modifications and corrections for adoption.
4. Participants further agreed on their role as gate-keepers and key stakeholders for ensuring effective and appropriate mobilization of all the communities for enrollment and registration in the Ghana National Household Registry, specifically in the UWR.
5. All participants agreed to use the knowledge and information gathered to enhance the operations of the NTU, especially, and as specifically related to the Mobile Targeting Centre, (MTC) strategy, scheduling of data collection, mapping of communities for the GNHR. To this end participants agreed to make suggestions to the NTU at the community levels towards an improved public information campaign strategy, detailing community mobilization and public education methods and materials, as may be appropriate.

The workshop ended with a commitment from all participants to fully support the enrollment and data collection exercise, as key persons in the districts, using the technical knowledge and expertise, towards the successful implementation of the GNHR. Participants left the workshop satisfied with the level of shared knowledge and information, convinced of their roles in the implementation of the GNHR, as drawn from the effective operationalization of the various levels of the Social Protection Committees.

Sem B Hotel, Wa.
16^th July 2015.