Gender Ministry hosts community dialogue on social and protection issues

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has held a community dialogue to engage residents on social and protection issues.

It was to educate communities where abuses pertaining to social issues had been reported to be rampant.

It also sought to engage communities under the government’s social protection interventions and the Ministry’s roles in enhancing social services and livelihoods.

The engaged communities included Zakpalsi and Kpilgini in the Mion District as well as Gbullung in the Kumbungu District, all in the Northern Region.

They were taken through demonstrations on human trafficking, domestic violence, gender roles, witchcraft accusations and the repercussions of breaching social protection laws.

Madam Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, addressing residents of Gbullung, urged parents to take care of their children to ensure that they did not become social liabilities.

She stated that hepatitis B patients in some communities were accused of witchcraft due to symptoms they exhibited and educated the community on the need to seek medical attention in such cases rather than resorting to accusations.

She urged parents to follow proper procedures at the Department of Social Welfare for child adoption to desist from dumping or neglecting children.

Officers from the Gender, Children, Social Welfare Departments and the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service took turns to sensitise participants on regulations on social issues.

Participants were further briefed on the government’s social protection interventions such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), School Feeding Programme and National Health Insurance Scheme.

Dr Charles Kesse, a representative of the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS), said mob actions and other abusive acts in communities hindered government’s social protection efforts, hence the dialogue.

During the dialogue at Zakpalsi, Mr Samuel Mahama, Mion District Chief Executive, stated that the event signified citizens’ interest in human lives, urging communities to desist from inhumane acts.

He called for banishing social and cultural practices that accommodated gender-based and domestic violence.