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The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) management has constituted District LEAP Implementation Committee (DLIC) in 10 districts as part of the pilot reassessment of beneficiaries of the programme.
Participants included representatives from the Municipal Police Command, National Commission for Civic Education, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Department of Agriculture and Business Advisory Services.
Constituted with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the DLIC was to support District Social Welfare/Community Development Officer in-charge of LEAP to coordinate the programme’s operational activities in the communities Mr Myles Ongoh, Head of LEAP, inaugurated the committee at Nandom Municipal and Wa West District in the Upper West Region yesterday.
He said the piloting of the reassessment programme in five regions in the north was to enable the LEAP programme learn lessons to inform the national rollout of the reassessment.
He explained that the essence of the reassessment was to have a good beneficiary database that justifies selection of extremely poor households.
Mr Raymond Nero, the Nandom Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), assured the LEAP programme of continuous support to the DLIC and the impending assignment once the reassessment commences.
The Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Ms Lillian Kpelle, encouraged the DLIC members to be objective in delivering their mandate to reduce inclusion and exclusion error and to improve livelihoods of beneficiaries.
He sensitised the members on the overview of LEAP and extensively educated them on their role in the LEAP reassessment.
Members of the DLIC affirmed their pledge to support with all activities of the LEAP programme.
The LEAP programme currently provides cash grant to over 344,000 beneficiary households in 260 districts across the country.
Since 2013, the LEAP programme had undergone a number of reforms and innovations including the transition from manual payment to electronic payment, all aimed at building efficient and effective cash transfer system.
Since the inception of LEAP in 2008, UNICEF has supported the LEAP programme in the area of funding and providing technical assistance and guidance.
The focus of the support was to complement Government of Ghana’s priority of impacting the most vulnerable and marginalised households in Ghana.