GBV survivors centre opened in Chinhoyi

Chinhoyi (Telegraph-New Ziana) – The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development in conjunction with Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital (CPH) on Thursday officially launched the One Stop Centre for Gender Based Violence (GBV) survivors, at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital.

Speaking at the National Commemorations of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence held in the town, the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Dr. Sithembiso Nyoni congratulated Mashonaland West Province for launching the first One Stop Centre for GBV survivors which was established by her ministry.

“This day as we are commemorating the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, we are also officially opening a One Stop Centre that will provide all services for the survivors of GBV because they need attention.

“We have adopted the One Stop Centre after realizing that it is a way of ensuring a holistic type of service to the survivors as they get all forms of assistance at the One Stop Centre,” she said.

The establishment of a One Stop Centre has come at a time many GBV survivors have been unable to get assistance due to the long distances they need to travel to get help.

Many survivors were also withdrawing their cases due to multiple institutions which needed consultations before they could get services, and many especially in the rural areas could not afford the high transport costs to enable them to get assistance and that was a major challenge.

Nyoni expressed gratitude to different stakeholders who helped in the establishment of the centre as it could not have been successful without the funding of different partners.

“I want to express my gratitude to different stakeholders like the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC), Ministry of Home Affairs, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), United Nations Population Fund, who took part, as the establishment could not have been successful without the funding partners who have tremendously funded the government to respond to GBV,” she said.

Chinhoyi has joined four other towns and cities in which One Stop Centres were established – Harare, Gwanda, Rusape and Gweru.

The One Stop Centre concept was established in 2014 under the Zero tolerance programme to GBV.

Telegraph-New Ziana