Gender Ministry spells-out LEAP qualification criteria

The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection on Tuesday spelled out qualification criteria for targeting the process and selection of beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

LEAP was introduced to support extremely poor households to meet their very basic needs for survival, which is contributing significantly to the wellbeing of beneficiaries.

The LEAP Management Unit (LMU) of the Department of Social Development depends on scientifically codified information based on geographical targeting of a region, district and community.

“LEAP selection is therefore based mainly on a poverty map of Ghana generated and provided by the Ghana Statistical Service and not the District LEAP initiative poverty ranking,” Mr Abraham Asare, Communication Officer of the Gender Ministry told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra.

He said the Gender Ministry would continue to educate the public on the qualification criteria to ensure that the public is not infused with misinformation to develop misconception about the selection criteria.

Mr Asare noted that the selection criteria also takes into consideration the poverty map, which ranks the regions, districts and communities according to their poverty status.

He said the LMU under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in addition to the poverty map, also targets older persons, persons with disabilities and orphans and vulnerable children.

He said it also involved the administration of Proxy-Means Test questionnaire at the selected households by enumerators, which is classified as a major step in the targeting process.

Mr Asare said data from the questionnaires are then entered into the LEAP computerised data management system and scored to determine, which households are eligible or qualified for the programme.

“Because of these rigorous processes in selecting geographical areas and beneficiary households, a study by the World Bank in 2010, identified the LEAP programme as the most effectively targeted social protection programme in Ghana.

“The LEAP Management Unit does not circumvent this time-tested targeting process,” he said.

Mr Asare noted that the 2015 plan for increasing LEAP beneficiaries is to cover all districts by December.

“All regions, districts and communities that qualify for LEAP shall be placed on the programme after the targeting processes have been duly complied with.

“The LEAP Management Unit would like to assure the public that the Ministry is working in the interest of all Ghanaians,” he noted.

He said LMU is linking LEAP benefits to complementary services/programmes promoting income generating activities and support better livelihoods.

Mr Asare noted that a research conducted by the North Carolina University of the US and ISSER of the University of Ghana in 2012, indicated that the LEAP programme has improved the living conditions of the beneficiary households.

He said LEAP has improved food intake, school enrolment, health care services, livelihoods, investments in petty trading and livestock, improvement in the local economy and building social networks have all been positively affected.