By Admire Orlando Price
The Ministry of Social Welfare has hinted plans to ensure that vulnerable groups are directly included and funded in the government’s 2027 annual budget.
This push is as a result of several engagements and advocacy by the media and CSO such as the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) pushing for public financial management within the sector.
The Minister of Social Welfare, Melrose Karminty, during one of the government weekly briefing announced renewed efforts to strengthen family values and community responsibility as a way of addressing growing social challenges in Sierra Leone.
Minister Karminty noted that many of the social issues currently affecting the country can be traced back to problems within family structures and the values children are exposed to during their upbringing. She identified drug and substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, early marriage, juvenile delinquency, children living on the streets, trafficking, and gender-based violence as some of the challenges linked to weakening family and community systems.
The minister noted that the ministry is now going to ring fence budget for vulnerable groups including persons with disability, women, youth, the aged and other groups classified as vulnerable groups.
The Minister of Social Welfare said the Ministry will present a budget proposal that ring-fences allocations for the elderly, persons with disabilities, women-headed households, children at risk, and other vulnerable populations.
“For too long, vulnerable groups have been mentioned in policies but not in budget lines,” the Minister stated. “This year, we are changing that. Inclusion must be funded, not just spoken about.
This will be done during the 2027 budget preparation and will be presented during the policy hearing and budget presentation to the ministry of Finance,’’ she said.
During the briefing the minister called on Sierra Leoneans to work together toward rebuilding strong family systems, restoring moral and social values, and creating healthier communities capable of supporting sustainable national development.
This inclusion is according to Ministry officials, the draft budget will prioritize, Persons with Disabilities, funding for assistive devices, accessibility grants, and skills training centers in all 5 regions.
Introduction of a social pension pilot to support citizens 70 years and above with no other source of income and that there will be increased allocation for GBV response services, safe homes, and economic empowerment programs. The 2027 budget of the ministry of social welfare will also saw support to foster care, child protection units, and school feeding for vulnerable children. Extreme Poor
