The Ghana Civil Society Organisations Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals has urged government to enact policies to curb inequality in all spheres and ensure more inclusive labour markets.
The spokesperson of the platform, George Osei Akoto Bimpeh, appealed to the authorities to put in place skills development mechanisms in the informal sector and create incentives for public providers of training to serve that sector because capacity building helps workers to access non-agricultural jobs and increase earnings.
Empowering people with disabilities to fully participate in society and the economy is key to fighting inequality. The member representing the Ghana Disability Federation on the platform, Mr Alex Bankole, also made an appeal for the inclusion of people living with disability in policy formulation because it seems they are always left out, both when designing and accessing social interventions. He noted that most infrastructure are not friendly to persons with disability. Therefore, the government should address this to improve their plight.
With lots of discrimination and sexual harassment in the country, the platform has also urged the government to put in place policies that will curb all forms of discrimination and make public any incident of sexual harassment or rape.
At a press briefing in Accra to mark the Global Week of Action on Inequality, the spokesperson of the platform called on the government to take steps to reduce the gap between the rich and poor through proactive policies. He said, ‘Apprenticeships are the most important form of skills development in the informal sector and government must invest the resources needed to improve the efficiency of internship schemes’.
He also noted that the government should increase taxes for people making more than for those who collect little, increasing tax compliance by high net worth individuals and improving the capacity of national revenue authorities to fight illicit financial flows.
Source: GhanaWeb
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