The Government is to engage stakeholders on the draft National Gender Policy to validate the document before submission to cabinet.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance will continue to implement the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project to assess the performance of Ghanaian women, micro entrepreneurs and the youth to increase their access to both financial and non-financial services.

Presenting the 2014 Budget statement to Parliament in Accra, on the theme: “Sustaining Confidence in the Future of the Ghanaian Economy,” the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, said a special programme was being drawn to deal with the peculiar hygiene needs of the adolescent girl to improve retention in schools across the 10 regions of Ghana.

He said poverty-focused activities received about one third of total government expenditures in 2012 and that was consistent with the objectives of the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda and the Better Ghana Agenda.

Government, he said, continued to expand access to basic services and facilitate the provision of employment opportunities for the youth and the vulnerable in society.

Outlining some of the achievements under the various programmes on poverty and social protection, the Finance Minister mentioned the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty as the flagship social protection programme which received attention during the year and provided cash grants to over 60,000 households.

The Ghana School Feeding Programme, he said, currently covered 1,582,402 pupils in 4,545 beneficiary schools while MASLOC’s lending operations covered 168 districts out of the 170.

The Local Enterprises and Skills Development Project provided 44,735 beneficiaries with skills training in vocational, entrepreneurship and business development services and set-up equipment to start their own businesses in various trades.

Recovery rate for new loans disbursed stood at 70.06 per cent; and a total of 1,000 outboard motors were distributed to fishermen in all the fishing communities in Ghana. That, he said, created at least 13,000 new direct jobs and an additional 20,000 indirect jobs for the fishing industry.

In all, 6,450 bundles of fishing nets were distributed to help minimise the use of unapproved fishing nets. Mr Terkper said about 590 Hyundai cars were distributed to individuals and taxi drivers on hire purchase.