UNDP Launches $7m Poverty Reduction Porgramme

Dodowa, (Greater Accra) 17 Oct.,

Ghana and the UNDP today launched a seven million-dollar national programme to facilitate poverty reduction. The Ghana Poverty Reduction Programme launched at Dodowa to commemorate the UN day for the ''Eradication of Poverty'', will be implemented within the next three years. Mr. Kwame Peprah, Minister of Finance, noted in an address read on his behalf that in spite of the reported reduction in poverty in the late 1980's and early 1990s, the existing level ''is unacceptably high''. Mr. Peprah said plans are far advanced for the African Development Bank to provide an investment fund of 15 million dollars to finance local level socio-economic development activities for the poor. It is estimated that one out of every three Ghanaians lives below the poverty line while 15 per cent of the citizenry have household incomes that are insufficient for an adequate diet. Poverty is more acute in rural savannah and rural forest areas among food crop farmers and self-employed workers. However, recent assessments have shown increases in urban poverty and a deterioration in living standards in the Accra metropolitan area. The programme will therefore build the management capacity of organizations to address poverty issues, help the poor to develop employable skills and establish a social investment fund to finance socio-economic development activities for the poor. It will also adopt and utilize appropriate technology to enhance labour productivity among poor producers and institute social development mechanisms to safeguard the disadvantaged. The Ghana Poverty Reduction Programme will initially be tested in the Accra Metropolitan area, Afram Plains, Bongo, Dangme West and Juabeso-Bia districts. It will collaborate with some Ghanaian NGO's and will be coordinated at the district levels by development planning officers who will work closely with the assemblies. Mr. Peprah stressed the government's commitment to the eradication of poverty. ''This poverty reduction objective remains a cornerstone of the economic recovery programme, as well as of Ghana's new long-term 25- year perspective development framework, Ghana Vision 2020''. The minister said the government has over the last three years initiated a number of measures to address poverty in a comprehensive way. These include the establishment of a special technical committee on poverty which operates from the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the 30 per cent increase in spending on social services. The committee provides technical advice and policy guidelines for district level planning, disseminates information and coordinates capacity building efforts for poverty reduction at the sub-national level. Mr. Peprah said a serious effort would be made to minimize the disparities between rural and urban areas as well as ecological zones of the country. He called for a concerted effort among government, NGO's, multilateral agencies, the private sector and individuals to achieve those objectives.