Inequality gap widens in Ghana – GIDRN

By Hafsa
Obeng/ Evelyn Anane, GNA

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA – The Inclusive
Development Research Network (GIDRN), on Thursday said inequality was now at
its highest level in Ghana with empirical evidence indicating a widening gap
between the poor and the rich.

Mr Edward Salifu Mahama, Principal
Coordinator, GIDRN explained that a recent survey conducted by the network
indicated that it would take about 1000 years for the poorest poor in rural
Ghana to earn what the top rich earn in a month.

He said “as the gap between the rich and the
poor has never been greater in Ghana, than today, the country needs research
input to tackle the issue even more than ever.”

Mr Mahama stated during a presentation of
different pieces of research conducted under the network to contribute to good
practices for inclusive development.

The findings of the research is to fill a
critical gap in terms of supporting academia to promote the issues of inclusive
development in Ghana.

Mr Mahama said due to the issues of increasing
inequality and persistent poverty in Ghana, the country’s academia needed to
support national dialogue.

Mr Charles Dzradosi, Social Policy Specialist,
UNICEF, said “The gap is increasing and much of it happening in the mix of
Ghana being a middle income country and growing in terms of our GDP and other
indicators.

“So these are questions we are going to ask,
and this research is going to give us answers as to what is happening on the
ground and what we need to do to improve the living conditions of our people so
that no one is left behind”.

He said if this continued at the current pace
it would be important to build the capacity of the upcoming generation in terms
of knowledge, skills, man power and their understanding of what development
was.

Mr Dzradosi said UNICEF was supporting the
process so that the research that was done would not be left on the shelves,
but the information shared and taken forward to make Ghana a more inclusive
country.

He hoped that at the end of the process, they
would be able to share the information to all manner of stakeholders, not only
politicians and policy makers, but also ordinary citizens.

He said UNICEF and the University for
Development Studies (UDS), formed the network to provide a forum for selected
research teams to receive mentorship, capacity-building, and networking between
academics and policy makers.

The network was formed in 2017 to promote
policy dialogue on poverty, inequality and social protection, promote
mentorship and capacity building between academics, policy makers and
practitioners.

It was also to support young researchers to
become people to be relied on for research findings, and get partners to share
information, work together and collaborate to push the agenda.

The findings as well as recommendations of the
research pieces would be presented to the media with a reliable pool of
researchers whose work could be used to inform national debate on the gap
between the rich and the poor.

The research pieces presented relate to issues
including; inequality, poverty, child poverty and social protection.

GNA

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