Ghana News Agency
Accra, 13, Feb. GNA
- Ghana has made significant progress in poverty reduction, improvement
in socio-economic development, good governance, youth and gender
empowerment and is also the first country in Africa to achieve
Millennium Development Goal 1.
Ghana was therefore, commended
for the successes it had chalked in halving the proportion of people
living in extreme poverty from 36 per cent in 1991/1992 to 18.2 per
cent in 2005/2006 with a decline in overall poverty incidences from
51.75 per cent in 1991/1992 to 28.5 per cent in 2005/2006.
These were contained in speech by Mr. Daouda Troure, United Nations'
Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative at the launch
of the Ghana National Human Development Report for 2007. He called on
Ghanaians to work hard towards the attainment of a more inclusive
society since it formed an integral part in the development of the
nation.
"The relevance of inclusion has been acknowledged as a core issue in
sustainable poverty reduction and human development". The 197-page
report put together by UNDP is under the theme: "Towards A More
Inclusive Society".
Independent senior academics from the University of Ghana with
technical assistance from the Ministries of Manpower, Youth and
Employment, Finance and Economic Planning, National Development
Planning Commission, Ghana Statistical Service and other UN agencies
were tasked to work on the report.
Mr. Troure said although recent progress registered by the country had
led to wealth creation and poverty reduction, its equitable
distribution still remained a challenge and commended government for
the recent allocation of budgetary resources for the Northern
Development Fund which aimed at developing the three Northern regions.
Mr. Troure noted that the principles of meaningful human rights could
only be realized when the nation was able to escape from degrading
poverty and could also rely on a strong inclusive society. He commended
government for its decision to help improve upon the lot of the three
Northern regions by the introduction of Livelihood Empowerment Against
Poverty (LEAP) program adding, "it will bring them to the mainstream of
economic development of the country". Mr. Troure assured government of
UNDP and the UN's assistance in offering timely and relevant technical
and logistical support to ensure effective collaboration in
contributing to the improvement of lives of Ghanaians.
Mr. Mike Hammond, Country Director of Department For International
Department (DFID), praised the nation for its impressive legislative
framework to protect the vulnerable in society and also for being one
of the first African nations to meet the Millennium Development Goal of
halving poverty.
He bemoaned instances in the report whereby disabled persons were not
benefiting from the formal sector, the three northern regions still
underdeveloped in terms of infrastructure and women and children less
likely to benefit from formal sector job placement as compared to their
male counterparts.
Mr. Hammond however, commended government for recognizing the issues
raised and had introduced interventions such as the Disability Act, the
National Social Protection Strategy and the eradication of the Worst
Forms of Child Labour, which were aimed at protecting the vulnerable in
the society.
He pledged UK's continuous support and partnership to help Ghana with
the critical transition from good legislation to actual implementation
on the ground.
Professor Daniel Adzei Bekoe Chairman of Council of State, who presided
said though there were indicators that poverty level in the country had
lowered generally, the numbers in poverty category in the three
northern regions was still too high. He said the various forms of
social exclusion had decreased from 31.4 percent in 1991-1992 to 17.6
per cent in 2005-2006 and challenged stakeholders to ensure an all
inclusive society.
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