Ghana is strengthening legal and institutional protections for women, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and older persons as government shifts its approach to social protection from advocacy towards enforcement.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, said recent legislation, regulations and institutional mechanisms had transformed several social protection measures into enforceable rights and obligations.
She made the disclosure at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Wednesday, organised by the Presidency Communications Bureau to promote transparency and accountability in governance.
Dr Lartey said the passage of the Social Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1148), and its accompanying Regulations, L.I. 2521, in 2026 had provided a stronger legal foundation for social protection.
Under the new framework, the Ghana National Household Registry has been designated as the sole targeting mechanism, while a dedicated Social Protection Fund has been established to support the implementation of social protection programmes.
On gender equity, the Minister said the implementation framework for the Affirmative Action Gender Equity Act was now fully operational.
She said the Gender Equity Committee and Secretariat required under the Act had been established, while the accompanying Regulations, L.I. 2522, came into force in June 2026.
“The Ministry has sensitised 2,321 stakeholders on their obligations under the Act, and 47 institutions, including ministries, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, and private sector organisations, have already submitted compliance reports,” Dr Lartey said.
She said the institutions were now legally required to take action on gender equity, with monitoring mechanisms in place to track compliance and strengthen accountability.
The Minister also disclosed that 37 sensitisation programmes had reached nearly 11,000 people with education on sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage and harmful cultural practices.
For persons with disabilities, Dr Lartey said Cabinet had approved amendments to the Persons with Disability Act, 2006, to bring it into closer alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
She described the amendments as a significant reform that had been anticipated by the disability community for several years.
Meanwhile, 19,760 PWDs had benefited directly from the Disability Common Fund across 208 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
The Ministry had also conducted sensitisation programmes on disability-inclusive disaster risk management in 11 regions.
Dr Lartey said the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), was formalising the employment of 272 graduates with disabilities into the GES.
In addition, the Ministry, working with the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation under the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project, had procured information and communication technology equipment for seven special schools.
The equipment included desktop computers, laptops, accessible software, Braille displays and embossers, as well as graphic tablets.
“Installation is complete in three of those schools, with work underway in the remaining four. For students who have never had hands-on access to this kind of technology, this is the first,” the Minister said.
Dr Lartey said older persons were also benefiting from the new social protection framework, which had transformed access to certain forms of support from a matter of charity into a legally recognised entitlement.
She said the Ministry continued to provide welfare services to 50 elderly residents at the Central Destitute Infirmary in Bekwai, which had undergone a complete renovation.
The Minister identified the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and the National Health Insurance Scheme as key mechanisms for extending social protection services to vulnerable older persons.
She said the government’s broader objective was to ensure that social protection measures were increasingly supported by clear legal obligations, institutional accountability and mechanisms for monitoring implementation.
