The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection has organized a training workshop to create awareness on the Single Window Citizens Engagement Service (SWCES) among stakeholders.
The one-day training was held in Tarkwa and this drew participants from Western and Western North Regions.
Addressing the participants , Miss Naa-Dedei Antie, Principal Social Development Officer, stated that the SWCES was launched by the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in December 2017 and has since commenced operations.
She said the SWCES was established to coordinate the grievance redress mechanism of the various Social programmes such as Livelihood Employment Against Poverty (LEAP), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ghana School Feeding Programe (GSFP) and Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW) to achieve efficiency and increase transparency and accountability in the operation of services.
According to Miss Antie, it was later expanded to receive complaints related to other social issues handled ed by the ministry.
“The SWCES has been in operation for the past three years and its activities were limited to Accra. There has been a consensus on the proposed SWCES structures to accommodate the influx of calls that are being received centrally” she noted.
She said it has therefore become imperative to intensify the sensitization and deepen the awareness as well as broaden the operationalization of SWCES at the decentralized levels.
This, she indicated, would allow citizens at the local levels to easily seek redress for their complaints and ensure the usage of the system.
Madam Antie said the objectives of the training was to deepen collaboration and coordination between SWCES and its stakeholders, facilitate responses to public queries, grievances and provision of feedback to the public.
She added that capacity at the local level would be enhanced to handle some criticism and citizens would be able to report their grievances for redress both at the centralized and decentralized levels.
Madam Juliet Masamaka, Senior Programme officer, emphasized that the MoGCSP as part of efforts to strengthen systems and improve coordination among social protection programmes has operationalized a SWCES.
The SWCES is a system that is designed to provide a single-entry point for citizens to report grievances for redress about the implemention for the major social protection flagship programmes, she explained.
Madam Juliet Masamaka said the intention was to facilitate the common use of appropriate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for case management.
She noted that “From January-August, 2021, the total number of calls received were 3,739, actual grievance received 1,204, feedback call 118, silent prank calls 890, follow-up calls 1,527 and resolved calls 961”.
She said through the intervention of the help line, some women who were trafficked to Saudi Arabia have been rescued and reunited with their families, added that, several children have also been rescued from early child marriage and supported by some Non Governmental Organization to enroll in vocational training.
She stressed that they would intensify community outreach and advocacy programmes throughout the nation to create awareness of the existence of the helpline of hope call center and its operations
The Deputy Director of Western Regional Coordinating Council, Madam Daphine Kemeh, said, “The success of these programme depend on our commitment. I implore you to apply the knowledge you have gained in your respective Districts and Municipalities”.
Source: GNA