Some Civil Society Organisations in Ghana have urged the Government to put in measures in its 2016 Budget to cater for the needs of the most vulnerable in society, especially women and children.
Mrs. Chris Dadzie, the Coordinator of the Institute for Fiscal Policy (IFP), said it was important for the Government to prioritise some areas of social spending, importantly, those that have a bearing on the lives of the vulnerable.
She noted that evidence from previous years’ budgets had shown that cuts in spending during times of fiscal consolidation usually affected the vulnerable.
Mrs Dadzie was speaking at a Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) dialogue on key messages for the 2016 Budget, organised by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and the Institute for Fiscal Policy, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In view of this, the dialogue was to serve as a platform for CSOs to strategise on how best to engage with the budgetary process in order to advocate for interventions that protect the rights of the vulnerable.
The discussions were centered on some key messages that ISODEC and its partners had presented to the ministry of finance as areas of priority for the 2016 National budget.
The main areas of focus include health and nutrition, social protection and eradication of child poverty, child protection and welfare, macroeconomic indicators, basic education and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
According to ISODEC, although the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II), government’s operational framework for its coordinated programme of social and economic development policies for 2014-2017 had made some progress with interventions in the various thematic areas.
These key areas, it said, needed to be focused on in the 2016 Budget due to their potential impact on the vulnerable, particularly women and children.
They noted that the Government’s current economic policy, focusing on macroeconomic stability, rather than social/human development, had been detrimental to the real side of the economy.
They, therefore, called for paradigm shift, which they said, should ‘ring-fence’ social spending and productive expenditures and investments to benefit the poor in society by targeting the real sector, that is, agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
They advocated that the 2016 Budget pay attention to fiscal discipline, social expenditure prioritisation, job creation, tax measures and adjustment for inflation in expenditure allocations.
Under Health and Nutrition, they underlined the need to focus on health expenditure to prioritise allocations for Goods And Services relative to Compensation; Financing for Immunisation for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, including honoring its co-financing agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), Newly -born Care Strategy, Anaemia among Children and the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others.
Other areas where they called for prioritisation in the 2016 Budget were sustaining increases in education budget allocation, especially in the Assets and Goods And Services sub-sector; ensuring that high education expenditure reflected in performance; and gradually scaling up the per capita grant from its current GH¢ 4.50 to GH¢8.80
Others are introducing new budget lines and allocation for the full implementation of the Inclusive Education Policy; Enhancing Resource Support for Domestic Violence Secretariat for addressing violence issues concerning children; and Providing Particular Consideration in the budget for Children with Special needs.
They also recommended that the 2016 Budget clearly state appropriate allocations to reflect Ghana’s obligation to monitor and scale-up implementation of social protection within the IMF programme, and ensuring a more regular and timely transfer capitation grants to schools.
Bishop Akolgo, the Executive Director of ISODEC, said although these suggestions had already been presented to the Ministry of Finance, at an earlier stage of the budget process, there was the need to build the capacity of other CSOs so that they could continue to engage with the budget process, both at the district and national levels.
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