Institutional Arrangement
The status of the LEAP programme changed in 2015 from a Unit of the Department of Social Welfare to a Programme Management Secretariat in the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP). As a result, the LEAP Programme now reports directly to the Chief Director of the MoGCSP.
As part of the institutions created to facilitate the management of the LEAP Programme is the LEAP Management Committee which comprises the Chief Director of the MoGCSP as Chair, LEAP Programme Manager as Secretary, the Director for Social Welfare, the Director for Social Protection, high level representative of the Local Government Service Secretariat, a representative from the Civil Society Platform on Social Protection, representatives from Development Partners (DFID, World Bank, UNICEF and European Union) and any other member that the sector Minister may consider relevant.
The responsibilities of the LEAP Management Committee include:
- Develop policies and implementation guidelines to manage the operations of LEAP
- Approve i) Annual Implementation and Operational plans ii) Annual budgets and iii) annual M&E reports v) annual reports
- Ensure financial transparency and take decisions on major financial aspects of LEAP.
- Ensure operational efficiency and transparency of LEAP
- Review the eligibility criteria for LEAP
- Determine the annual expansion in terms of the number of beneficiary households and number of districts.
- Review and approve quarterly operational progress reports and quarterly financial reports submitted by LEAP.
The LEAP Programme is managed by the LEAP Management Secretariat which is headed by the LEAP Programme Manager and deputised by a Deputy Director. The LEAP programme has six units which are headed by heads of units with staff attached to these units. The LEAP Management Secretariat has a total of 33 staff made up of Government of Ghana Staff and Technical Assistants (TAs) from the World Bank and DFID
The main responsibilities of the LEAP Programme Secretariat are to:
- Prepare annual implementation plans, operational plans and annual budgets
- Implement a LEAP Management Information System and ensure it functions effectively to provide the desired support to the enrolment, payment, case management, progress reporting and monitoring and evaluation processes.
- Implement an accurate and effective payment mechanism to provide regular/timely and accurate payments to beneficiaries, and ensure that payments records are reconciled for effective funds management and transparency
- Produce and communicate timely progress reports to the LEAP management committee
- Prepare LEAP monitoring and evaluation reports at output, outcome and impact levels, and properly feed forward M&E reports to LEAP Management Committee. The report should include synthesis of external evaluations (Spot check, Process Evaluation & Impact Evaluations, among others).
- Ensure that LEAP communication requirements and activities are in line with the communication Strategy and Communication Action plan of the MoGCSP
- Ensure that LEAP is implemented according to the rules and guidelines contained in the LEAP operations Manual
- Make recommendations regarding annual target to the LEAP management Committee and Social Protection Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee
- Ensure that adequate human resources are available for effective and efficient operations of the Programme
- Evaluate staff performance in accordance with their terms of reference
- Plan and execute timely procurement of goods and services.
- Ensure financial resources are available at all times at all operational levels
- Prepare timely financial and procurement progress reports
Implement financial and procurement plans following the rules and procedures established.
Regional Directors of Social Welfare
The Programme works through Regional Directors of Social Welfare who perform monitoring and supervisory duties of various districts under their jurisdiction. They serve as a bridge and management control between the various districts where implementation takes place and the LEAP Management Secretariat where work plans and budgets are developed for implementation
District Social Welfare Officers(DSWOs)
The LEAP Programme activities are mainly undertaken at the community level through the District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs). The DSWOs are in charge of implementation of the LEAP Programme at the district and community levels. Their roles involve supporting targeting and enrolment processes, undertaking case management, supervising payment processes, supporting complementary initiatives and providing reports on LEAP activities at the district and community levels. DSWOs are staff of the Local Government Service which is under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. The DSWOs therefore report to their respective District Assemblies and Regional Directors of Social Welfare.
Community LEAP Implementation Committees/Community Focal Persons
The DSWOs are significantly supported by the Community LEAP Implementation Committees (CLICs)and the Community Focal Persons(CFPs). These CLICs were established by the LEAP Programme Secretariat to support implementation of the LEAP Programme at the community level. The members of these committees serve the Programme on a voluntary basis. However the Programme has introduced the use of Community Focal Persons (CFPs) who are volunteer health workers in the communities. These CFPs will replace the CLICs.
Payment Service Providers
One of the key activities of the LEAP Programme is to conduct periodic payments to LEAP beneficiary households. This role is undertaken by a third party organisation contracted by the LEAP Programme. From 2008 up until the third quarter of 2013, the Ghana Post Company Limited was the only Payment Service Provider (PSP) that was contracted by the then Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare where it did the payments through a manual process. This process has since changed with the contracting of the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement System (GhIPSS) in December 2015 to conduct payment of the grants to LEAP households for a period of two years.The role of the PSP involves registering valid LEAP beneficiaries onto their payment platform and ensuring that LEAP beneficiaries are paid. In facilitating payments to LEAP beneficiaries, the PSP must ensure that LEAP households receive the correct amounts due them at the scheduled time.
Collaborating Institutions
The LEAP Programme collaborates with other institutions in its implementation processes. These are:
- The Ministry of Health: Supports the programme in the realization of health conditionalities. This is realised through the working relationship between the Programme and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) which is an agency in the Ministry of Health to register LEAP beneficiaries with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The NHIA is also identifying the extremely poor persons who are entitled to free NHIS using the common targeting mechanism. The Programme is also keen to work with the Ministry of Health to monitor conditionalities.
- The Ministry of Education: Supports programme in the realization of education conditionalities. The LEAP Programme is a conditional cash transfer programme and requires LEAP beneficiaries to comply with conditionalities that require children in LEAP households between the age of 5 and 15 to enrol, attend and remain in school. The programme plans to engage with the Ministry of Education to assess to what extent eligible children in LEAP households are enrolling, attending and remaining in school.
- Ghana Statistical service: Provides support to the programme in regard to poverty data essential in targeting LEAP households and any other statistical information. The Programme also plans to engage the statistical authority to include indicators relevant to LEAP in its collection of census data in upcoming census surveys.