The Communications and Public Relations Manager of Action Aid, Ester Ohenewaa Brown, has called on media practitioners to intensify the advocacy on decent work practices and social protection schemes in Ghana.
“We want the Journalists to raise the awareness at their media houses, ask duty bearers why social protection schemes are not being access by the vulnerable people in society but the political connected people who are not supposed to be the beneficiary people.”
According to her, the vulnerable people in the society do not get access to the government’s social protection schemes such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), National Health Insurance, the Planting for Food and Jobs, the subsidized fertilizer programme among others.
“…So, we’re looking at how can we get the journalists to support the advocacy, we know that you write, you support the development process. In fact, you’re described as the fourth estate and so how can you be the voice for these people in the communities who are not getting access to these social protection schemes, they need to live a decent life they’re supposed to live” she urged.
Madam Ester Ohenewaa made the clarion call at the close of a two-day training workshop for Journalists in the Northern, North East and Savannah regions on Decent Work Practices and Social Protection Schemes in Tamale last week.
The workshop comes on the back of the Northern Ghana Integrated Project undertaken by the social justice nongovernmental organization in the Northern, Savannah, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
The Project Manager, Mr. Ayuba Abukari, in interview explained to journalists that the four-year project is being implemented in 15 districts in the north covering about 300 communities with funding support from the European Union.
He disclosed about 1,500 young people are also being trained in honey and shea butter productions, nutritional gardening and farming as business, stating about 80 percent of these beneficiaries have reported the increment of their individual incomes from the startups that they were provided under the program.
Mr. Ayuba indicated the capacity building training is to empower the media to advocacy for the underprivilege in society to have access to social protection and also to ensure that decent work practices are mainstreamed in the agricultural sector.
He observed these in smallholder farming are often shortchanged as the returns they get does not commiserate with their efforts because they are not paid required for their labor.
“So, we think that they have the right to know their rights as employees; usually they are employed by the big plantations and agribusinesses but these agribusinesses want to make money and wants to minimize cost and in minimizing cost, they look at getting cheap labor” he explained.
Meanwhile, the efforts of Action aid with the implementation of the Northern Ghana Integrated Project addresses the UN sustainable development goals one, two and eight which highlights on ending poverty in all its forms, end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, as well as decent work and economic growth respectively.
