AU urges Ghana to start process to ratify the Social Protection Protocol

Mr Lefhoko Kesamang, Senior Social Welfare Officer at the African Union Department of Social Affairs, has called on the Government to start the process to ratify the Social Protection Protocol, which seeks to protect the vulnerable by providing their basic needs.

He also urged the Government to ratify the African Union Protocol on Older Persons and the Disability Protocol to help deal with issues of inequality and poverty that plague many African countries.

“Ghana is doing very well already in these areas, ratifying the protocols will not put further stress on the government but will rather enhance its efforts,” he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.

Mr Kesamang, who was a resource person at a national workshop on promoting rights-based legal frameworks on social protection in Africa on Thursday, said as at 2018, 11 countries had signed the AU Disability Protocol and three countries had ratified it.

The workshop, which brought together Civil Society Organisations, members of the African Platform for Social Protection (APSP), and officials from the African Union, was coordinated by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Ghana signed the AU Protocol on older persons on July 4, 2017 but is yet to be ratified.

Dr Tavengwa Nhongo, the Chairman of the APSP, said social protection was a right and not just about the poor or vulnerable but wealthy people also needed to be protected socially.

“Social Protection should not be considered as a handout,” he added.

Source: GNA