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23.01.2013 Feature Article

Enhancing Social Development: Our Policies Must Be Strategic, Holistic And Well Coordinated

Enhancing Social Development: Our Policies Must Be Strategic, Holistic And Well Coordinated
23.01.2013 LISTEN

Social Development is a very extensive arena. In terms of governance, it is beyond the maximum confines of any single ministry, department or agency. It spans the territories of social and other human rights, health, education, social protection, children, gender, demography, media and the multiple intersections with economic development as portrayed in issues bordering on livelihoods such as employment and labour relations.

Therefore, it is understandable that the administration of the new government of President John Mahama seems to have identified a focal point in defining a clear objective by which to measure and account for real progress on the social development front.

Defining Social Development
The UN World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) organized in 1995 could not achieve a global consensus on the definition of Social Development. This is not strange because the concept of social development is positively amorphous and hinges on social transformation.

However the objectives are clear and include the promotion of progressive social change and cohesion through efficient social policies that strengthen the capacities of individuals, groups and institutions towards improved productivity and wellbeing.

Social development is not designed to merely address the residual elements of Economic Development. Rather, it couples economic development to provide a balanced and holistic approach to human wellbeing. In many ways,Economic development is about how to create wealth and social development is about how to equitably apply the wealth for social transformation.

In terms of policy design, constituents of social development include Social Assistance, Social Security, Social Protection, Social Citizenship, culture and perspectives regarding how to effectively address poverty and promote Social Justice.

Policy perceptions in all these areas must have sound theoretical underpinnings and authentic practical references; and without unnecessary adherence to political ideologies and private inclinations.

Social Assistance:
Social Assistance is support provided to those who have no labour income, not being in the labour market. It is targeted to the vulnerable and excluded such as the aged, people with disabilities and orphaned children. Social Assistance isa direct State responsibility.

Usually, it is directed towards poverty reduction and capacity building, although in not a few instances it is purely for enhancing survival. An effective social assistance policy is dependent on proper targeting and user-participation in both the design and implementation.

Without scrutinized targeting wrong beneficiaries (individuals, households and communities) are given the assistance and wrong assistance is given to a wrongly defined target. For example, there are many rural dwellers perceived to be poor but who have access and control over adequate resources.

For such, the nature of assistance provided should be more of capacity building on how to appropriate their resource rather than dishing out social grants. Thus, three key issues need attention in fashioning out a good social assistance policy:

1. An integrated but well categorized targeting mechanism

2. A user-based programming design
3. A decentralized assistance delivery framework that strengthens local participation and broad-based partnership networks.

Social Security:
Social security is targeted at those who are/have been engaged in the labour market. It is a form of insurance for workers so that when they are no more in employment they will still have benefits to keep up their livelihood. Although it is linked to the labour market, social security can be contributory or non-contributory. It is related to sickness, labour accidents, pensions, family allowance and unemployment.

The goal is to ensure income guarantee and socio-economic integration for the worker. Social security, in our context, should apply to both the formal and informal sector, effectively. Given that the informal sector constitutes the larger sector of our socio-economic framework, an efficient social security policy should be well tailored to meet the needs of that sector. This is why more attention should be given to the current SSNIT, and other social security, schemes attending to the informal sector

Social Protection:
Social Protection has to do with preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that seriously affect the wellbeing of any person or people.Broadly, Social Protection encompasses both social assistance and social security, in addition to public services such as education, health, housing and transport.

In Ghana however, Social Protection has been focused on people considered to be in situations of extreme poverty, vulnerability and exclusion; hence its reduction to a social assistance framework. The highlights present National Social Protection Strategy includes the following:

1. To tackle the root causes of poverty by addressing the social risks faced by the poor.

2. Strengthen the capacity of the poor through the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) social grants scheme.

3. Recognize the gender connections to poverty, exclusion and vulnerability and hence includes a gender-sensitive approach to its poverty reduction and social empowerment strategies.

It will be interesting to know what approach to social protection the current administration intends: are we to expect the new Ministry designated with social protection to be responsible for the coordination of all social protection issues, including traditional social welfare responsibilities, management social grant schemes, health insurance, school feeding, social security, and social assistance?

It is clear that such a responsibility may be too much for the new Minister/Ministry.But if the focus on social protection will continue to be social assistance then the mandate of the new ministry should be well articulated and communicated so that expectations are not unfounded.

The new administration needs to be reminded that if it narrows Social Development into just Social Protection and further narrows Social Protection into just Social Assistance; this may not be strategic as not very much may be achieved in terms of meeting the critical needs of citizens. What is true is that many of the other aspects of social protection (i.e. apart from social assistance), is dispersed in other Ministries. This is why an inter-ministry coordination mechanism is of immediate essence.

The challenge of the Social Welfare Department, apart from the lack of funding, is the difficulty in coordinating dispersed interventions hosted by various agencies over which they had no control.

This challenge must be addressed head on, now, before it's too late when things set out in iron casts and agencies are more concerned about turf defense than sincere collaboration and coordination.

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