Social Protection Policy or a Political Largesse: Disability Fund Efficacy Assessment and Roadblocks to Sustainable Development Goals

ABSTRACT

Social protection policies have been tools for fighting social exclusion, inequality and reducing poverty incidence among vulnerable populations in developing countries. In this regard, the government of Ghana through the institution of the disability fund has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the cause of people with disabilities. In assessing policy efficacy, the realities on the ground, as well as policy challenges, 130 persons with disability (PWDs) and 10 Key Informants (KIs) were recruited from across five regions. In addition to conducting face-to-face interviews with PWDs, the study conducted a number of interviews with key informants (KIs). The study findings concluded amongst other things that, the policy is plagued with challenges such as limited information about the fund, fund access difficulty and disbursement delays. It was also revealed that; the policy is saddled with opacity and partisan politics. To ensure efficiency and expedite the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1, the research proposed for policy restructuring. In addition to introducing financial literacy and management training for beneficiaries, the study proffers decoupling the fund management from political structures to help meet the objectives for which it was incepted.

KEYWORDS:

• Social protection policy
• disability common fund
• SDGs
• Ghana

Acknowledgments

The research team would like to extend our warmest heartfelt appreciation to the respondents for their cooperation in making the research successful.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Consideration

Ethical clearance was obtained from the committee on human research publications and ethics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology (KNUST) before the study was conducted. After seeking approval of conduct interview, participants were given ample time to recall their experiences. The questionnaires were approved by experts who had experience related to disability studies. The research design for all the participants was tailored to avoid gathering duplicated and irrelevant responses. To ensure consistency and minimize inherent weaknesses, questionnaires were pretested on a pilot basis with a randomly sampled population from the targeted study areas. Results of the piloted questionnaires were however not included in the final data gathered for the main research work.

Additional information

Funding

The research team received no funding for this research. All activities related to this research were funded from the authors’ own pocket.