CEDEPA Ghana Calls for Sustainable Implementation Strategies for Manifesto Policies on Street-Connected Children and Kayayei

The Centre for Development and Policy Advocacy (CEDEPA-Ghana) has called on Ghana’s major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to fine-tune their social protection policies, which are targeting street-connected children and kayayei girls, if elected in the 2024 elections. The appeal was made during a press briefing held in Tamale, Northern Region, as part of the Youth Engagement for Inclusive Democracy Project.

The briefing was organized by the coalition of organizations under the banner, the Coalition of NGOs Against Streetism (CONAS) and the Street Invest Network-Northern Sector. The members of these two coalitions include CEDEPA-Ghana, the Centre for Community Initiatives against Human Trafficking (CIATH), Sung Foundation, Youth Voices Initiatives Ghana (YOVI-Ghana), the African Development Organization for Migration (AFDOM), and Chance for Children. The event brought together representatives from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), scores of former street-connected children and the media.

Mr. Alhassan Ziblim, a Research Fellow and Project Lead at CEDEPA-Ghana, delivered the coalition’s statement, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in addressing the needs of street-connected children. Mr. Ziblim explained that a thorough analysis of the NPP and NDC manifestos reveals significant gaps in their social protection policies towards street-connected children and kayayei girls.

“Our analysis shows that while both parties have outlined numerous policies to support street-connected children, the majority of these policies lack actionable implementation strategies, adequate funding plans, and alignment with the mandates of the state institutions or agencies that could champion their execution,” Mr. Ziblim stated.

The analysis conducted by CEDEPA reveals that, the NPP manifesto contains 10 social protection policies aimed at improving the well-being of street-connected children and kayayei. However, only three policies (30%) included specific interventions or activities that could be implemented to achieve the stated policy objectives. The remaining 70% lacked clear strategies for sustainability.

The NDC manifesto on the other hand, outlines 13 social protection policies related to street-connected children. While eight policies (representing 63%) contain specific interventions or activities, only three policies (23%) were aligned with specific state institutions or agencies with the mandate and capacity to sustainably implement them.

“These findings indicate a significant gap in both parties’ policies for addressing the challenges faced by street-connected children and kayayei,” Mr. Ziblim noted. “We urge the Presidential Candidates of both the NPP and NDC to re-examine their manifesto policies and provide concrete, sustainable strategies for implementation.”

The coalition recommends that, the NDC and NPP should clearly outline how they intend to fund their social protection policies to ensure long-term sustainability. Also, they should align the Social protection policies with the mandates of relevant state agencies and provide such institutions with the needed funding and logistics to ensure effective implementation. The coalition called for greater accountability from political parties in their approach to social protection. “Street-connected children and the kayayei represent one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. Without concrete and sustainable implementation strategies, social protection policies will only become knee-jerk reactions that will hardly last beyond the specific political regimes that initiates them.” Mr. Ziblim stressed.

The NGO coalition members assure government of their readiness to assist in developing robust policies and interventions to address the plight of street-connected children and kayayei girls in northern Ghana.

Story by:

Yussif Ismail (CEDEPA Ghana)