Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the advocacy roles of NGOs in social protection programmes and the social safety net programmes they provide for families in poor regions in Ghana and the importance of these roles in addressing the challenges of inequalities and extreme poverty in Ghana.

Paper long abstract:

This paper reports on the advocacy and service provision roles that Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are playing in influencing government policy on social protection programmes. The Ghana government's social protection programme - the livelihood empowerment against poverty (LEAP) has received advocacy support from NGOs to help improve targeting and elimination of administrative bottlenecks. It also reports on the social safety net programmes NGOs provide for families in poor regions in Ghana. These key roles are important in assessing the extent to which NGOs contribute to addressing the challenges of inequalities and extreme poverty. The paper is based on interviews with NGOs and beneficiaries of social protection programmes based in rural districts in Ghana where extreme poverty incidence rates are higher than the national rate of extreme poverty. The paper reviews state of social protection in Ghana, the challenges of state social protection interventions, the rise of NGO welfarism in Ghana, the scope of NGO social safety net interventions and the future of NGO social interventions in Ghana.