Bolgatanga: The urban version of the Complementary Livelihood and Asset Support Scheme (CLASS) under the Productive Inclusion (PI) component of the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project 2 (GPSNP2) has been launched in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region. The social protection intervention, an extension of the GPSNP1, is being implemented by the Ministry of Local Government Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD) and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP) with funding from the World Bank. The project, expected to end in 2025, is building upon the successes of the first phase of GPSNP and aims to expand and enhance social safety nets and provide access to productive income generating opportunities for the poor living in urban areas in Ghana. The GPSNP2 programme which is set to benefit about 10,000 vulnerable urban and peri-urban people, was designed to address not only rural poverty but also urban and peri-urban poverty due to severe challenges prevalent in those areas. In a speec h read on his behalf, Mr Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, the Minister for MLGDRD, said the launch of the Urban CLASS was a demonstration of the government's commitment to the 'Agenda for Jobs Creation and Leaving No One Behind.' The government in 2019, through the above mentioned two ministries commenced the implementation of the first phase of the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project (GPSNP), an intervention that yielded significant results, some of which included assisting 20,085 beneficiaries under the PI component to start their own micro enterprises. It also provided short term employment to over 34,500 poor persons through Labour-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) and linked close to 16,000 beneficiaries to ongoing agriculture interventions through the Government's flagship Planting for Exports and Rural Development (PERD) programmes and set out the framework for a well-coordinated Social Protection delivery in the country. 'As successful as the first phase of GPSNP was, a major limitation of the Project was i ts restriction of project activities, and intervention under the PI and LIPW components to rural areas. 'This shortcoming was brought to the fore during the COVID 19 pandemic when it became evident that the poor in urban areas were most vulnerable, and hardest hit by the effects of COVID', he added. Professor Prosper Laari, the National Coordinator, GPSNP2, said the social protection programme which had its beneficiaries selected from the beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme aims to provide income-earning opportunities for poor households, particularly during the agricultural off-season, to help them meet their household expenses and provide start-ups for the vulnerable to establish microenterprises and improve agriculture productivity. He said each of the beneficiaries who received capacity building training to manage their activities would also be given US$300.00 dollars in two tranches to support local innovations and enterprises. 'The programme will end in Decem ber 2025, so we need to work together to ensure that beneficiaries receive grants and accompanying support to enable them expand their enterprises and smoothen household consumption and it is gratifying to note that, to date, a little over 8,500 persons out of a target of 10,000 have been selected to benefit from the urban CLASS programme', he added. Mr Desmond Duametu, a Productive Specialist, GPSNP2, urged the beneficiaries to take their investments seriously to improve their lives and create jobs. Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper East Regional Minister, commended the government and World Bank for the project and urged the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure it succeeded in contributing to reducing poverty. Source: Ghana News Agency