Social welfare staff builds capacity

A two-day capacity building workshop for 58 new recruited staff of Department of Social Welfare and Community Development (DSW/CD) in the Greater Accra Region is underway in Accra.

Participants of the workshop would be taking through topics on Child Rights Promotion and Protection, Background on Social Work and Community Development, Strategies and Processes in Community Development and Social Protection.

Other presentations would cover Participatory Tools for Community Development, Community Care and Justice Administration.

Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection said the DSW/CD per the Legislative Instrument (L.I) 1961 has been mandated to assist metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDA’s) to formulate and implement social welfare and community development policies within the broader national framework.

She said the two departments before the promulgation of the LI was working as separate departments under the Ministries of Gender and Local Government at both national and local levels.

She said this brings to the fore the need for the nation to carefully identify and address critical issues emerging from the merger to ensure effective and efficient delivery of service.

Nana Oye Lithur said the workshop marks the beginning of the collaboration between the Local Government Service Secretariat (LGSS)and the Ministry of Gender through the Social Protection Directorate of the DSW to provide requisite skills and qualities to enable the staff to act professionally on the job.

She said the merger which is part of the overarching decentralisation agenda has ceded the Gender Ministry implementation function of the MMDA’s of the Local Government Ministry.

In a speech read on his behalf Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Greater Accra Regional Minister said a number of reform initiatives were launched in the past with the aim to improve public sector management and achieved varying degrees of success in terms of improving public service delivery.

He said the promulgation of the L.I 1961 provided justification for the realignment and integration of 22 functional levels into the department of assemblies.

Nii Afotey Agbo noted that with the provisions in place, the LGSS, the Regional Coordinating Council as well as MMDA’s are required to facilitate the integration of the departments.

He said deepening administrative decentralisation also implies that key actors at all levels are aware of their roles and responsibilities which the workshop seeks to achieve.

Nii Afotey Agbo said it is critical for the staff to be acquainted with the provisions in the various protocols to ensure compliance, hence the workshop is part of a long-term strategy of the LGSS to address the perceived low performance of staff in the social welfare and community development department as well as the entire local government staff.

Dr Calistus Mahama Head of LGSS tasked the staff to be up and doing to promote their departments in order to enhance productivity.