‘We Are Ready to Receive You’ – Gender Ministry Rolls Out Support for 345 Ghanaians Evacuated from South Africa
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection says it has put measures in place to receive and help 345 Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa integrate smoothly after fleeing recent xenophobic attacks.
The citizens arrived at Kotoka International Airport aboard a government-chartered flight and were received by a delegation that included the *Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa*, the Minister for Health, Deputy Director-General of NADMO, and GCAA officials.
Speaking from her ministry’s perspective, *Hon. Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey* welcomed the returnees and outlined the support her outfit will provide.
“The nation Ghana wants to warmly welcome you all back home. If you had any fear, as we stand here today, we are excited to receive you,” Dr. Lartey said. “We are a nation that is resetting, a nation that is very desirous of seeing its nationals prosper. We have put in place not just policies, but the requisite actions to back the policies to ensure that all our nationals are doing well.”
‘Once There Is Life, There Is Hope’
Addressing the trauma of displacement, Dr. Lartey urged the evacuees to stay hopeful: “Once there is life, there is hope. No matter what you have been through, let’s be hopeful of tomorrow. Take advantage of all the social interventions available. Take advantage of all the opportunities that are available.”
She encouraged them to channel the energy they used to build lives in South Africa into building Ghana: “Join us to reset Ghana. Put the energy you put into building SA into building Ghana. Be more hopeful that Ghana will be better than where you are coming from.”
She noted that many children among the returnees are coming home for the first time and will now experience “the Ghana we all want, and then the future will be brighter and better for them.”
Psychosocial Support Front and Centre
Dr. Lartey emphasized that her ministry is prioritizing emotional and psychological recovery for the evacuees.
“The ministry and all other stakeholders have put measures in place to ensure that emotionally, psychologically, you are well catered for. So there will be psychosocial support aside the other things that you receive,” she stated.
“For us at the Ministry of Gender, the psychosocial support is very important, because if you are given millions of cedis and your mindset or your frame of mind and emotionally you are not there to utilize it, any opportunity that will come your way will not be useful to you.”
She added that President John Dramani Mahama, his appointees, and all Ghanaians are “joining to reset Ghana” because “if Ghana is well, it will be well with all of us.”
Dr. Lartey also commended the returnees for their conduct abroad: “We thank you all for cooperating and making sure that the name of Ghana sells us high up there. We say Aiko for all the work that you have done where you were.”
Government agencies including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and NADMO are working with the Gender Ministry to provide medical checks, documentation assistance, livelihood support, and counselling as the 345 evacuees begin reintegration.
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