Centre for Social Policy Studies
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Item Neighbours as keepers: Informal volunteering in Ghanaian society(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Aryeetey, E.B-D.; Appiah-Kubi, J.The article discusses who is volunteering and what they are doing at the household level in Ghana. By all indications traditions of informal volunteerism continue to survive throughout the country, though this mode of volunteering has been overlooked by researchers. This is partly because Western conceptions of organized volunteerism do not capture adequately the dynamics of informal volunteering. The article is based on data drawn from the baseline of a panel household survey on living conditions in Ghana, conducted in 2010 on 5009 households. Descriptive statistics confirm that about 30% of the sample of 18,889 household members who were interviewed often volunteered to help others. Volunteering rates are higher among better educated and working men and women. But nearly all of them practice what is described as informal affinity-based volunteering, rather than unobligated civic volunteering. Given that Western research and publication on volunteering offers little insight into the persistence of informal volunteering outside industrialized societies, the study on Ghana brings vital contributions to knowledge in this fieldItem The role of primary caregivers in Ghana's child protection system: Lessons from transnational caregivers(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Dankyi, E.Children constitute the single largest sub-group of the population of many countries. They are born into societies of distinct values and cultures and deserve optimum protection regardless of where they find themselves. Thus, there has been the formulation of different legal and policy instruments at various levels to ensure the protection of children, chief among them being the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which has been ratified by many nations, Ghana being the first. Ghana has made many strides in line with her commitment to child protection. What is largely missing in the child protection efforts in Ghana is the place of primary caregivers of children (biological parents, foster parents and or caregivers of children in institutions). The subject of primary caregivers is even more crucial in the face of changing traditional familial roles and relationships and the evidence of deficits of care. The near omission of the subject of care and primary providers of care in much theoretical thinking, academic enquiry and practical planning efforts have some implications for social policy. Drawing on findings of a research on caregivers of children left behind by migrants in Ghana, this paper discusses the place of primary caregivers in the child protection system and its implications for social policyItem Scaling up and sustaining gender inclusion through the MDGS in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Aryeetey, E.B-D.; Domfe, G.Despite improvement in the welfare of women during implementation of the MDGs in Ghana, women still lag behind men in welfare ranking in key areas. The data of three series of national surveys were jointly employed to analyse the trend of indicators of improvement in the welfare of women, from 1999 to 2010. Using both linear and probit regressions, factors such as acquisition of formal education and delay in marriages were found to correlate positively with the MDGs. The paper therefore recommends a pragmatic policy to deepen the current efforts of making education more accessible and attractive to womenItem Knowledge, expectation and fears of oil activities in fishing, farming and market communities in Sekondi -Takoradi(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Tsiboi-Darko, A.As the capital of the Western Region and one of Ghana's fastest growing cities, Sekondi -Takoradi has become the hub of oil activities since the discovery and production of the resource. Majority of economic activities center on fishing, farming, trade and service. Activities in mining and lumbering from other areas in the Western region have also generated growth in the metropolis. With the discovery of oil in 2007, however, there has been some expansion of the port facilities as well as plans to restore the rail system. The coastal location of most of the communities has given room for the development of the vibrant fishing sector which still persists. Local and commercial fishing activities are undertaken by both indigenes and migrants. Farming has been on the decline as farmlands close to the city center consistently give way to the spread and need for residential facilities in response to the increasing costs of land. This paper looks at 3 communities engaged in fishing, farming and trade in service within the metropolis. Qualitative and quantitative data from interview and household surveys conducted in March 2013 are used in discussing the knowledge, expectations and fears of households in regard of oil activity. Knowledge on products derived from crude oil refinement is appreciably high, especially in the trade service community. In contrast knowledge on the laws governing the sectors activities is not appreciable in any of the three communities. The level of fear is low as many respondents are affirmative on the positive benefits of oil activity. The paper concludes that with dissemination of information through the right channels and improved knowledge sources, high expectations can be appropriately managed