The 3rd Annual Summit of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is underway in Accra under the theme, “Innovations for Service Delivery.”
The two-day programme is expected to assess the performance of the Ministry for 2020/2021 and identify innovative ways of delivering services to the vulnerable.
Caretaker Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who delivered the keynote address at the opening ceremony stated the introduction of electronic systems and strategies is having a major impact on effective and efficient case management for social protection, domestic violence, and vulnerability issues.
She indicated that the innovation and technologies being used, namely the Orange Support Centre, comprising the call-in section and the Boame mobile app and the Helpline of Hope have increased confidentiality.
These, she said, assure the safety of reporters and provide a tracking system for case management through referral to the appropriate authorities.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah disclosed that from 2020 till date, 6000 calls have been received by the Orange Support Center, with 280 active, 50 resolved and closed while 233 are ongoing.
“The Helpline from 2017 till date has received 14,820 cases, 4, 709 actual grievances received, 5,106 follow-up calls, 4,369 resolved cases and 340 cases are ongoing.”
“In addition, a child marriage portal has been launched to give the public information and is available on www.cm.mogcsp.gov.gh while other innovations undertaken by the Ministry will follow soon in the next presentation,” she added.
According to her, the Ministry intends to reach more vulnerable groups, which demands substantial investment in innovation and technology and assured the processes have already started to improve on innovations on the use of technology to reach the vulnerable.
She urged the participants to ponder on ways that can deliver services efficiently and effectively without compromising the quality for the benefit and betterment of all vulnerable groups in the country.
Hon. Abena Dapaah expressed appreciation to the government and development partners for the invaluable support to the Ministry to improve transparency in the implementation of Ghana’s social protection system and to improve the socio-economic situation of the vulnerable and marginalized in the country.
In her welcome address, Chief Director of the Gender Ministry, Dr Afisah Zakaria, disclosed that the maiden summit was organized in 2019 with the objective to review the progress of implementation of its programmes and projects, strengthen the collaboration among its key stakeholders, and create awareness on the Ministry’s programmes and interventions and showcase achievements with regards to its mandate.
“The 2019 summit also led to the development and signing of an Aide Memoire between the Ministry and its major stakeholders, mainly Development Partners,” he said.
According to her, the Ministry organized the second Annual Summit in 2020 that reviewed achievements and progress made in the year 2019/2020 among other important topics.
The Ministry, she said, continues to work assiduously to protect and promote the right and welfare of the vulnerable and has made tremendous achievements toward the attainment of this mandate.
Source: Mypublisher24.com/Osumanu Al-Hassan