September 1, 2020, GNHR – The Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR), has collected data on about 80,000 poor and vulnerable persons in the Greater Accra region in during the lockdown.
It would be recalled that the Government of Ghana lockdown the Greater Accra and Kumasi regions in April this year to control the spread of the corona virus infection code named COVID19.
Consequently, the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR), a unit of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), took immediate steps to conduct a rapid data collection exercise on the poor and vulnerable to compile comprehensive, robust and reliable data for relief services during the period.
According to a data dissemination report issued by the GNHR today, data was collected on approximately 80,000 poor and vulnerable persons. It revealed that 62% of the vulnerable individuals were female with about 50% aged 18 – 39; about 20% aged 40 – 59; and 10% aged 60+; and the remaining under 18 years.
“Over 60% of vulnerable individuals sleep in kiosks, containers, markets, uncompleted structures, on the streets, bus or lorry stations, chop bars or drinking spots, and at the beaches, exposed to natural hazards. Only very few people sleep in compound houses, mostly in overcrowded rooms”, the reported added.
Vulnerable groups
The report showed that 2,630 persons live with disability and 39,199 are migrants, that is, individuals from other regions of the country. The homeless with their children constitute 50, 266. Head porters, popularly known as Kayayes comprise 6,012, majority of whom are female and 1,033 were foreign nationals (mostly from neighbouring countries).
Children respondents, whose replies were collected from their parents, guardians or recognised adults, were grouped together as follows: 134 orphans; 817 children with no guardians, represent 6.9% of children aged less than 15; and 1, 736 children not in school, represent 19.3% of children aged 4 to 15.
Level of Education of the Vulnerable Individuals and School Enrolment of Children (4 -15 years)
Out of the 80,000 vulnerable individuals captured, about 50% (i. e. 34, 380) had no formal education, another 25% (19, 280) had only primary education. The remaining 25% had at least JHS/JSS education.
Also, among the 9, 012 children of school going age (i. e. 4 to 15 years), the percentage of males and females in school was 84% and 78% respectively. Also, the remaining who were not currently enrolled in school were mostly (64%) female. Reasons for which some of the children were not in school were either because they were homeless, or they were orphans or had no guardians.
Livelihood Activity of Vulnerable Individuals
The report highlighted that, out of a total of 46, 060 vulnerable individuals (i. e persons expected to have a source of livelihood), 35% had no source of livelihood. The reasons for absence of livelihood include old age (1,080), temporary layoff (856), disability (103) or illness (450).
Of the vulnerable individuals engaged in some livelihood activities, over 40% were petty traders or hawkers, about 5,000 (16.5%) were Kayayes or head potters, about 10% were drivers or drivers’ mate, scrap collectors, truck pushers, shoeshine boys, shop assistants and commercial sex workers.
The findings also indicate that majority (58.2%) of the individuals with no source of livelihood were homeless. Also, 68.4% of these individuals with no source of livelihood were female. Again, 73% of individuals with no sources of livelihood had dependents/children.
Persons with Disability (PwD)
Out of a total of 2, 630 individuals with disability, 70% had no source of livelihood, 41% homeless, 34% from other parts of the country, 45% elderly, 58% were female and 12% were orphans (not mutually exclusive). The prevalent disability type was physical disability (50%), 20% visual impaired or blind and the remaining without any form of disability.
Basic Access of Vulnerable Individuals
The data showed that over 50,000 of the vulnerable individuals aged 18 and above owned a mobile phone, more than half of this had registered for mobile money services. Also, less than 50% of the vulnerable individuals did not have access to National Health Insurance.
The rapid data collection exercise was funded by the World Bank and DFID and commissioned by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
About GNHR
The GNHR, a unit under the MoGCSP with the mandate to compile a register of the poor and vulnerable for targeting beneficiaries of social protection undertook the data collection exercise. The data were to inform government’s policy planning and decision-making process for social protection. The Immediate availability of comprehensive data would have simplified effort of government and other agencies at targeting vulnerable groups for relief and social services with transparency and accountability.
