Government to expand LEAP coverage to 450,000 households

The Government is set to expand coverage of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme from 350,000 to 450,000 households under the proposed BIG LEAP initiative.

She said the expansion formed part of measures to strengthen social protection and provide greater support to poor, vulnerable and excluded households.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, announced this at a Community Dialogue Series on Social Protection and Social Issues held in the Korle Klottey Municipality.

Dr Lartey said the LEAP programme had improved in recent years, including an increase in the grant size and its indexation to inflation to help protect the real value of the support provided to beneficiary households.

She said the government had also undertaken reassessment exercises as part of efforts to strengthen the programme and support the implementation of BIG LEAP. The initiative seeks to increase the number of households benefiting from LEAP from 350,000 to 450,000.

She said the government remained committed to strengthening Ghana’s social protection system as part of efforts to reduce vulnerability and improve the welfare of citizens.

Dr Lartey said the Government’s social protection interventions were aligned with the National Medium Term Development Policy Framework 2025 to 2029, which is anchored on the “Resetting Ghana Agenda: Creating Jobs, Ensuring Accountability and Promoting Shared Prosperity.”

She said the Ministry was also implementing some policies and programmes aimed at addressing social vulnerabilities and promoting human capital development. These include the National Shock Responsive Social Protection Strategy, National Social Protection Policy, Ghana School Feeding Policy, Child and Family Welfare Policy, National Framework on Ending Child Marriage, Children’s Act, Persons with Disability Act, Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act and the Social Protection Act, 2025.

The Minister said the Social Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1148), together with its accompanying regulations, provided the legal framework for a consistent, effective, well-coordinated, properly targeted and sustainably financed social protection system.

She further explained that the National Household Registry was being used to identify eligible beneficiaries of social protection programmes and to support evidence-based policy planning and decision-making.

Dr Lartey called for stronger collaboration among traditional leaders, religious bodies, civil society organisations, the media, youth and women’s groups and other community actors to help address poverty, vulnerability and social challenges.

She said the success of the country’s social protection agenda could not be achieved by the government alone, and urged communities to actively participate in efforts to protect vulnerable persons and improve their wellbeing.

The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, called for stronger community-level support for children, widows, the elderly and persons with disabilities, saying the way a community treats its vulnerable members reflects its values.

She said no community could claim to be safe and caring if vulnerable people were left behind, stressing the need for collective responsibility in protecting people who needed support.

The Minister said supporting widows mattered because their wellbeing also affected their children's welfare. She called for continued efforts to ensure that eligible persons benefited from social protection programmes, including the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and other government support initiatives.

She said government, traditional authorities, community leaders, parents and individuals all had a role to play in building communities where vulnerable people were protected and supported.

“Any community is measured by how it handles its most vulnerable,” she said.

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings called for stronger collaboration among government institutions to improve social protection and ensure that support reached people at the community level. She urged beneficiaries and officials involved in administering such programmes to ensure benefits reached the right people.