Table 2. Selected key policy documents in Ghana reviewed and assessed.

Policy	Relevant Policy Goal/Strategy	Policy on children	Policy includes ‘play’	Policy includes ‘recreation’
National Youth Policy, 2010	Promote youth participation in sports, recreation, and positive leisure activities, including the provision of playgrounds	✓	X	✓
National Urban Policy Framework & Action Plan, 2012	Among policy measures to protect open spaces and ecologically sensitive areas include “develop and use open spaces, green belts and other ecologically sensitive areas (i) for appropriate recreation and urban farming; (ii) to enhance visual amenity; and (iii) to promote microclimate control as appropriate.	X	X	✓
National Housing Policy, 2015	Mandate the identification and acquisition of open spaces for active and passive public recreation in neighbourhoods and communities.	X	X	✓
Child and Family Welfare Policy, 2015	Policy establishes a coordinated child and family welfare system that promotes the wellbeing of children, prevents abuse and protects children from harm. No explicit or implicit policy objective on playability	✓	X	X
National Spatial Development Framework, 2015-2035	Overall spatial development strategy includes green infrastructure network (GIN) in urban areas such as outdoor recreational and educational facilities, promoting community interaction with the environment to improve physical and social inclusion for the particular benefit of the young, disabled and older segments of the populations	X	X	✓
Children’s (Amended) Act (Act 937), 2016	Article 9 – Right to Social Activity. No person shall deprive a child the right to participate in sports, or in positive cultural and artistic activities or other leisure activities.	✓	X	✓
Ghana Building Code, 2018	Provides guidelines on public open spaces such as parks and gardens, small play areas within shopping malls, and other open areas for children	✓	✓	✓
National Medium-Term Development Policy Framework (NMTDPF) - An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All, 2018-2021	Integrate sports and recreational needs of the aged and children in the provision of facilities (SDG Target 11.7)	✓	X	✓
Medium-term development plans of municipalities, 2018-2021	Localization of the policy objectives of the NMTDPF - An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All, 2018-2021, at the city/municipal level	✓	X	✓
Revised National Health Policy, 2020	Support the development of recreational and physical activity facilities for use by the population regularly to achieve longterm health.	X	X	✓

Note: (✓) indicates policy has measures on children, play/playability or recreation while (x) means otherwise.