Ghana risks losing out in attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10, which aims at ending hunger, poverty and inequality by 2030.

That is why pressure is mounting on government to immediately release funds for beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

LEAP is one of Ghana’s flagship social protection programmes that provide bi-monthly cash payments to indigent households in all districts of the country. In addition to the cash transfer, LEAP offers free registration in the National Health Insurance Scheme.

To be eligible for LEAP, poor households had to have at least one elderly, disabled or orphaned and vulnerable child.

Currently, 344,023 households benefit from the cash grants per the 2022 budget statement.

But an impact analysis by Civil Society Organisations consisting of Social Accountability Forum, Civil Society Platform for  Social Protection and the Civil Society on SDG 10 has revealed there have been unexplainable delays in the release of funds to beneficiaries by government.

The CSOs in a Press Briefing in Accra said, "It is worthy of note that information regarding the specific reasons for the delays has not been effectively communicated to stakeholders.

"Our checks reveal that there has not been any attempt by LEAP Management Secretariat and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to engage LEAP beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders on when payments will be made."

They described the delay as unacceptable and defies the principles of good governance and accountability.

Therefore, the CSOs are calling on government to immediately release funding for payment to beneficiary households to alleviate their long-suffering and hardships.

They added that "Government should ensure that grants are transferred to the appropriate agencies on time who will also ensure that beneficiaries received their grants on the due dates."

Moving forward, the CSOs concluded that collective efforts in attaining Sustainable Development Goal 10 to end poverty hunger and reduce inequality will be pointless, needless infractions to undermine impactful Social Protection such as LEAP continue.