The International Federation of Women Lawyers, Ghana chapter (FIDA-Ghana), says its analysis of the 2026 National Budget has found no dedicated allocation for the construction or expansion of shelters for survivors of domestic violence, despite the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection receiving GH¢11.6 million in capital expenditure for the year.
The organisation disclosed the finding in a statement issued after a media engagement in Accra, in which it also appealed to development partners, corporate institutions, philanthropic bodies and individuals to sponsor the establishment of shelters across the country.
FIDA-Ghana said it had found no indication of dedicated development partner funding for shelter construction either.
According to figures FIDA-Ghana says it drew from national budget documents, allocations to the Domestic Violence Fund have fluctuated considerably since 2021.
The Fund received GH¢2,119,305 in 2022 and rose to GH¢2,735,743 in 2024, the highest figure in the period the organisation cited. It then fell sharply to GH¢337,500 in 2025, before recovering to GH¢1,600,000 in 2026 — the third-highest allocation since 2021, by FIDA-Ghana’s reckoning.
The organisation’s statement does not include figures for 2021 or 2023, so the full year-on-year trend cannot be independently reconstructed from the release alone.
FIDA-Ghana said the 2026 figure, though an improvement on the previous year, remains below the 2024 peak and falls short of what it considers necessary to meet demand for survivor support services.
These figures are as presented by FIDA-Ghana; The Chronicle has not independently verified them against the published 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy or prior appropriation acts.
FIDA-Ghana argues that safe shelter is not a peripheral service but a precondition for survivors’ recovery, dignity and long-term reintegration.
Without secure accommodation, the organisation said, survivors “often remain trapped in abusive environments or are forced to return to unsafe homes despite receiving legal, medical, or psychosocial support.”
The statement frames the proposed shelters as providers of immediate safety, temporary accommodation, psychosocial support, legal and case management services, and pathways to recovery and reintegration, though it does not cite external research or data in support of these claims.
The organisation directed five recommendations at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
It called for sustained annual allocations to the Domestic Violence Fund to ensure predictable financing, and for the allocation to be increased by not less than 30 percent using the 2023 budget figure — not disclosed in the statement — as a baseline.
It further urged that funds be released within the first quarter of each financial year to avoid disruption to services, that coordination be strengthened between the Domestic Violence Secretariat, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, health facilities and other service providers, and that government build sustainable partnerships with NGOs, development partners, the private sector, faith-based organisations and philanthropists to establish and maintain shelters in all sixteen regions of Ghana.
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