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The Ghana Civil Society Organisations Platform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has called on Government to do more to lessen the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the poor and vulnerable persons.

A release by the sub-platform on Goal 10, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the harsh impact of the pandemic widened further the growing inequality in the country, and placed vulnerable groups including women, youth, children, and persons with disabilities in economic destitution.

It said the toll of the pandemic on the world’s economy affected developing countries like Ghana and noted that measures by the Government to alleviate the plight of the most affected, notably the distribution of free food and micro-credit facilities for SMEs were “not sufficient”.

The release said with the UN was projecting the pandemic to drag on for a couple more years until a vaccine was found, a long term strategy to diminish the short term effects of the situation was crucial.

“In light of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) projections, it has been made clear that the virus will be with us for at least 2 more years because a vaccine has not yet been developed.

“Government will need to develop an inclusive long term strategy that will help address the short to long term effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the poor and vulnerable and the entire citizenry at large”, it said.

The release made some key suggestions that could be considered in national budgeting, and also by political parties as they drew up manifestos during the election year.

Notable among the recommendations was a strong focus on universal quality public services towards bridging the gap between rich and poor and address gender disparities, which it said could be attained with budget allocations to boost free quality universal public education, and a free universal, easily accessible and quality healthcare.

It also recommended progressive taxation that would help redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, and create an environment that would encourage investment and economic growth.

The release also called on government to enhance the labour market by strengthening unions, increase minimum wage, protect rights, level off gender opportunities, and cushion the vulnerable lot with social security programs among others.

It further called for invests in national care systems that would help address what it calls the “disproportionate responsibility” for care work done by women and girls, asking that such systems addressed challenges with the universal access to safe water, sanitation and domestic energy systems, and also secure investments to deliver universal care for children, the aged, and people living with disabilities.