‘CASH PLUS’ AND IPV: EXTENDING UNDERSTANDING OF PATHWAYS AND MECHANISMS OF IMPACT TO INFORM PROGRAMME IMPROVEMENT AND EXPANSION

Study description

The LEAP Programme was launched in 2008 as Ghana’s flagship poverty alleviation programme and is currently administered by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP). LEAP provides bimonthly unconditional cash payments ranging from approximately US$10 to $18 to extremely poor households with orphans and vulnerable children, elderly with no productive capacity, persons with severe disability, and pregnant women or children under 12 months. Currently, the government is piloting the ISS initiative, which entails facilitating linkages and improved access to complementary social protection, community development, and health services, and strengthening the efficiency of such services. Prior research conducted from 2015 – 2017 demonstrated that LEAP 1000—a pilot focused on pregnant women/mothers of young children—reduced emotional and physical IPV. In qualitative interviews, participants echoed that poverty reduction due to cash transfers increased economic security and emotional wellbeing and reduced IPV. The LEAP+ISS pilot provides a timely opportunity to assess how complementary services can enhance impact of cash on IPV reduction and deepen understanding of pathways. This qualitative study complements an ongoing quasi-experimental impact evaluation to answer the following questions: (1) What is the role of linkages and complementary services, in combination with cash transfers, in reducing IPV in LEAP+ISS households? (2) How do linkages and complementary services interact with cash to improve access to referral and support services? (3) What are the mediators within and modes of interplay between economic/emotional wellbeing, intra-household conflict and empowerment pathways?

For more information: Government of Ghana’s LEAP plus ISS program webpage