The Ghana National Household Registry compiled by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has revealed that about 80,000 persons in the Greater Accra Region are “poor and vulnerable.”

At a press conference in Accra, National Coordinator of the Ghana National Household Registry, Dr. Prosper Laari, said the Registry has collected “data on approximately 80,000 poor and vulnerable persons in the Greater Accra Region.”

He explained that the data was compiled during the lockdown imposed in parts of the country to hold the spread of the coronavirus.

“Out of this ?gure [80,000 poor and vulnerable], 62% of the vulnerable individuals are females with about 50% aged 18-39; about 20% aged 40-59, and 10% aged 60 plus, and the remaining under 18 years.

“Over 60% of vulnerable individuals sleep in kiosks, containers, markets, uncompleted structures, on the streets, bus or lorry stations, chop bars or drinking spots, at the beaches, exposed to different forms of hazards. Only very few people sleep in compound houses, mostly in overcrowded rooms. 3% of the individuals live with a disability,” he said.

Dr. Laari said the data will help in better distribution of relief activities.

“We know that the World Food Program (WFP) is planning to target about 50,000 individuals, and they are going to use this data.

"As a ministry, there are several programs we have targeted toward the vulnerable and so you will want scientific data to be able to properly get to people that need those support,” he revealed.