By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), March 20, GNA – The Information Services Department (ISD) in the Upper West Region has commenced community sensitisation on the “Helpline of Hope Call Centre”, an intervention by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP).
The sensitization was to enable beneficiaries of Social Protection Interventions implemented by the government at the community level to report suspected irregularities to the appropriate authorities for investigation and redress.
Mr Sinto Mustapha Nuhu, the Upper West Regional Director of the ISD, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa in an interview on Tuesday, said the initiative was to empower the communities to hold the implementing agencies of the interventions accountable.
Those social intervention programmes were the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty, Labour Intensive Public Works, Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion Programme (SOCO), National Health Insurance Scheme, Ghana School Feeding Programme, Education Capitation Grant, Productive Inclusive, and the Ghana National Household Registry.
Also, victims or witnesses of abuses such as defilement, rape, elopement and human rights abuse, among others, were encouraged to report such cases through the “Helpline of Hope Call Centre”.
“We want to educate the communities on the Hope Call Centre so that people who are benefiting from Social Protection programmes, when they have issues concerning these things, they can just call one call centre and that one call centre will then distribute the information to whoever is responsible”, Mr Nuhu explained.
He said the sensitisation would take the form of community outreach with the Information van, using Community Information Centers, Churches and mosques, among others.
He explained that the initiative was to help ensure that the target beneficiaries of the interventions benefited from them as well as to prevent any form of abuse against the beneficiaries of the programme.
The sensitisation was carried out in seven selected municipalities and districts in the region – Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District; Nadowli-Kaleo District; Sissala East, Jirapa, Lawra, Lambussie, and Nandom Districts.
He encouraged the public to take advantage of the call centre to report such issues for the necessary actions to be taken.
He said the call centre was toll-free and anyone could call at any time to report any issue relating to human rights abuses and the social protection programmes.
He, however, advised against prank calls as that could deny a person access to the call centre to report a pressing issue or concern.
GNA