Mrs. Frema Osei-Opare, Deputy Minister of Manpower Youth and Employment on Thursday announced government's proposal to restructure the Department of Social Welfare. It will become Department for Social Development (DSD) to play a central role in addressing the social and development needs of target groups in the society. She said the proposal would require the support of the public and organizations, which identify with vulnerable and excluded groups and pro-poor policies that could be harnessed for national development. Mrs. Osei-Opare was speaking at the fourth Annual National Young Women's Leadership Conference in Accra, which aims at developing the leadership qualities of young women in decision-making positions. The conference, which was organized by the Ark Foundation, Ghana Women's Law and Human Right Institute was on the theme: "The importance of sustaining social welfare for the protection of human rights: An agenda for state responsibility and change". Mrs. Osei-Opare assured the public, especially the vulnerable and excluded members of the society that the government was still committed to their welfare and development. She said government was also finalising the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) to support the livelihood of various vulnerable and excluded groups. She said the NSPS would not only seek to provide interventions in response to specific needs, but also focus on temporary safety nets as well as address the root cause of social inequalities in the system. Mrs. Osei-Opare further stated that the DSD would ensure that target groups elected for assistance programmes were qualified to receive their support through MDAs implementing various social protection programmes. She said the NSPS would facilitate a comprehensive capacity building for the DSW in order to increase the numbers of appropriately trained social workers at the community and district levels. Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Women and Children's Affair in a speech read for her said government was committed to the promotion and enhancement of the status of women by reducing their poverty through increased accesses to flexible credit terms, capacity building, entrepreneurial skills development and the promotion of small, medium and large industries. She said the ministry had made efforts at generating gender and sex-disaggregated data by the statistical service and other research institutions. Hajia Mahama said savings from the HIPC initiative were being targeted at social services especially education and training, health, portable water, sanitation and other facilities critical for the development and empowerment of the vulnerable. Source: GNA