LEAP Targets 150,000 Households By 2015

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection yesterday went on Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) cash disbursement monitoring programme in the Ga South District of Accra. The monitoring was led by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection for Ghana, Nana Oye Lithur, accompanied by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, and the former Brazilian Minister for Social Development, Ms Marcia Helena Carvalho Lopes. At Jamestown, where a cash disbursement programme was in session when the team arrived, a courtesy call was paid to Nii Kojo Ababio V, Jamestown Mantse, who expressed his profound gratitude to the government for putting in place measures to eliminate poverty. According to him, it was laudable that the vulnerable and disadvantaged were being supported as part of efforts to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and creating equal opportunities for all. Nana Oye Lithur stated that government was committed to the cause of eliminating poverty and providing economic empowerment for citizens who are disadvantaged. She noted that since the inception of the LEAP cash transfer programme, some households have been empowered to provide for themselves the basic needs of life. �The LEAP programme has yielded a lot of benefits, which are boosting of the productivity of beneficiary households, larger enrolment of children in schools, and overall contentment of the aged and persons with disability,� she reiterated. The Minister hinted that by December 2014, 100,000 households are expected to be registered on the LEAP programme as beneficiaries nationwide. At the Weija Leprosarium, 74 beneficiaries received their LEAP cash electronically through MTN mobile money. Ms Carvalho, who is in the country to share best practices with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to improve Ghana�s Social Development, stated that Ghana and all African countries can eliminate poverty and create equal opportunities for all. According to her, Brazil has been able to eradicate extreme poverty from most of it communities through the Bolsa Familia, which has become a reference point to all countries working to improve the lives of their citizenry. Ms Carvalho expressed her excitement to be in Ghana to share knowledge about how Brazil was able to attain the position of improving the lives of the poor. She hoped that her stay would help the Ministry of Gender�s commitment to boost Ghana�s Social Development. Some two beneficiaries The Finder spoke to said the LEAP cash transfer has helped them to purchase drugs and also acquire basic live needs. The LEAP cash transfer is done every two months; a beneficiary receives GH₵48 while two receive GH₵60. For three beneficiaries, they receive GH₵72 and four and above receive GH₵90.