Dodoma receives a one stop centre building in drive to curb GBV cases

Dar es Salaam. Dodoma region, which is also the country's capital, has planned to combat incidents of Gender Based Violence (GBV) through the newly launched one stop centre at the regional referral hospital.

 According to the regional commissioner, Ms Rosemary Senyamule, Dodoma is one of the regions with many cases of gender-based violence that has been affecting many girls and women.

Soon after the arrival of the President and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), Mr Chip Lyons in the country, the region was able to witness the inauguration and handing over of a joint centre building to deal with victims of sexual violence.

The building renovated by EGPAF in collaboration with Engender Health through the USAID Afya Yangu Northern Project is the 15th building to be constructed in the country.

This also comes at a time when the government has begun to rapidly encourage the implementation of the National Guidelines for Integration of One Stop Centres for GBV and VAC Prevention and Response Services in Health Facilities project launched back in 2013.

"The success we see is due to the efforts by the President (Samia Suluhu Hassan) who met with Mr Lyons in the United States at the end of last year," said Ms Senyamule during the handover ceremony.

He noted that when the two leaders met, President Hassan emphasized to Mr Lyons the importance of these projects... "This is because she has been at the forefront of opposing gender violence for a long time even before she became President."

Ms Senyamule noted that the centre which is the first in the region has come at the time when her region had reported many incidents of sexual violence.

"I am very grateful for the good will of EGPAF and its partners for helping us repair this building. This building is going to stimulate the fight against the violence that flourished here in Dodoma," said Ms Senyamule.

On his part, Mr Lyons, whose organization has been working in the country since 2003 supporting HIV programmes, said that the organization in recent years has expanded its scope to cover other areas including reproductive health services and management of GBV cases.

He noted that they have done this in collaboration with Engender Health through the USAID Afya Yangu Northern Project and the previous USAID Boresha Afya North-Central Project that ended in 2022.

“The success we celebrate today is a culmination of an effective partnership led by the Ministry of Health, Dodoma regional leadership, the donors led by the US President’s Emergency plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID, other implementing partners and the people of Tanzania,” said Mr Lyons.

“Today we are here to witness the handover of a GBV One-Stop Centre; a place that will provide integrated care for GBV survivors,” he said.

“Our hope is that, by providing a comprehensive package of care that includes GBV care services, this new centre- will help to de- stigmatize GBV and promote the wellbeing of our adolescent girls, women and families,” he added.