Broad Areas of Social Development

Ghana’s social development promotes the wellbeing, capabilities and social inclusion of all people so they can fully participate in and benefit from national development. It emphasises human-centred services, resilient communities, and inclusive systems, that deliver education, health, decent work, and other key social services. Emphasis is given to all vulnerable groups to ensure no one is left behind.

Focus Areas

1. Population and Demographics – Monitor demographic trends (fertility, mortality, urbanisation, migration and population distribution) to inform planning for services, infrastructure, social protection and fiscal policy.
2. Education and Training – Expand equitable access to quality early childhood, basic, secondary and tertiary education; strengthen vocational and lifelong learning to align skills with labour market needs.
3. Health and Health Services – Strengthen primary health care and progress towards Universal Health Coverage, improve service quality, and tackle communicable and non-communicable diseases while reinforcing health workforce and supply chains.
4. Food Systems and Nutrition – Promote resilient, climate-smart food systems that ensure food security, dietary diversity and micronutrient sufficiency through sustainably increased production, value chains and market access.
5. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) – Guarantee safe, affordable water, sanitation and hygiene services for all communities to reduce disease, support dignity and enable participation in education and work.
6. Employment and Decent Work – Create decent, productive jobs, support formalisation, ensure labour rights and workplace safety, and promote enterprise development, especially for women, youth and informal workers.
7. Gender Equality – Remove legal, economic and social barriers to gender equality; eliminate gender-based violence; ensure equal access to resources, decision-making and services.
8. Child Protection and Development – Strengthen systems for child survival, protection and development, including ECD services, social welfare case management and prevention of abuse, exploitation and child labour.
9. Youth Development – Invest in youth empowerment through education, skills training, entrepreneurship support, civic participation and targeted labour market interventions.
10. Poverty, Inequality and Social Protection – Reduce poverty and vulnerability through progressive social protection, targeted safety nets, cash transfers, and policies that address structural inequality and promote inclusion.
11. Disability-Inclusive Development – Mainstream disability inclusion across policy and service delivery, ensure accessibility, provide rehabilitation and strengthen social protection for persons with disabilities.
12. Ageing and Functionality – Prepare for an ageing population by promoting healthy ageing, social care services, pensions and policies that preserve functionality and social participation of older persons.
13. Sports and Recreation – Leverage sports and recreation to improve population health, social cohesion, youth engagement and talent development at community and national levels.
14. Migration and Development – Manage migration to maximise development benefits and protect migrants’ rights, including diaspora engagement, safe labour migration pathways and reintegration support.
15. Cross-cutting priorities — Strengthen data and monitoring systems, promote inclusive governance and community participation, mainstream climate resilience and disability/gender sensitivity across all focus areas, and mobilise partnerships and financing to scale impact.