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Sikhumbuzo Moyo [email protected]

UNITED Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) has committed to rendering technical and financial support to strengthen Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response efforts including accessibility and availability of multi-sectoral GBV services.
In a speech read on her behalf by the UNFPA technical specialist Gender Based Violence Ms Janneke Bienert at the launch of the Mpilo Central Hospital One Stop Centre in Bulawayo today, UNFPA county representative Ms Miranda Tabifor said it was critical that the two parties work together to ensure sustainability and expansion of One Stop Centres and other GBV response services in the country.
“To this end, UNFPA has contributed to the technical development of guidelines that assist countries as they design, implement and review services for survivors of GBV.
The Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subjected to Violence is one such guidance, providing a practical tool on how to ensure the provision and coordination of quality services of all relevant sectors,” said Ms Tabifor.
She said Zimbabwe has fully embraced these guidelines in informing GBV response, particularly, multi-sectoral service provision.
“Since the beginning of the UNFPA Zimbabwe 8th Country Programme in 2022 we have, jointly with the Ministry of Women Affairs, achieved notable results. For example, more than 150 000 GBV survivors accessed at least one essential service through the One Stop Centers and Shelter – this includes psychosocial support, health services, and police and legal support. And almost 24 000 women and girls in hard-to-reach areas accessed the Mobile One-Stop Centers,” she said.
Ms Tabifor said the results are a testament to needs at a community level that justify the expansion of the critical service for GBV survivors.
She said during the 16 Days of Activism to end GBV there is a need to strive towards a world where all women and girls can live free from fear and violence therefore critical to equally invest in prevention programmes, mobilising social and behavioural change in communities, and bringing the programmes to scale