The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in collaboration with the Information Services Department (ISD), has held a sensitisation workshop to train regional and district officers of the department on the Single Window Citizens Engagement Service (SWCES).
The meeting aims to enhance public understanding and access to the SWCES.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Director of the Ministry, the Head of Leap Secretariat, Dr. Ongoh Myles, welcomed participants to the workshop on Wednesday in Koforidua.
He lauded ISD for its instrumental role in raising public awareness of the SWCES, particularly in the Northern Zone.
He commended the innovative outreach strategies deployed by the ISD, including community engagement through mobile vans, religious institutions, and marketplaces, which have significantly improved citizens’ access to social protection services.
“ISD played a key role in empowering citizens to know their rights and access social protection services. This success reaffirms the strategic role of ISD as a key partner in bringing the SWCES closer to the people, especially at the grassroots level,” he said.
Dr. Myles noted that the SWCES, established in 2017 with support from the World Bank, functions as a centralised platform for grievance redress and information sharing for key government social protection programmes.
These, he said, include the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, Labour-Intensive Public Works (LIPW), the Productive Inclusion Programme, and the Capitation Grant.
He stated that beyond these, the Helpline of Hope Call Centre also responds to cases of child abuse, sexual, gender-based violence, human trafficking, disability issues, marital challenges, and other vulnerabilities and social issues that fall within the mandate of the ministry.
According to him Ministry, however, acknowledged that awareness of SWCES remains relatively low in the Southern Zone, a gap the workshop aims to bridge.
He noted that the objective of the training was to equip ISD officers with the necessary knowledge and tools to lead effective public sensitisation campaigns, ensuring that every Ghanaian, regardless of location, is aware of the services available to them.
“This workshop will strengthen the capacity of ISD personnel to scale up sensitisation efforts, ensuring that the service becomes a nationwide reference point for information, redress, and protection,” he said.
He urged participants to actively engage, share experiences, and propose practical strategies to make the upcoming awareness campaigns impactful and inclusive.
“Working together, we can strengthen Ghana’s social protection delivery system to be more inclusive, more responsive, and more accessible to all, leaving no one behind,” he added.
On her part, the Acting Director of the ISD, Dr. Winnifred Nafisa Mahama, noted that the department was deepening its collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, reinforcing its position as the frontline agency for public education on economic empowerment and social protection initiatives.
She disclosed a major digital transformation drive and unveiled plans to enhance Public Education Campaigns (PECs) through the use of new software tools.
“These tools, some of which will be able to give live field feedback, are expected to significantly improve campaign efficiency and monitoring,” she said.
Priscilla Osei-Wusu Nimako, ISD
