The British High Commissioner to Rwanda, William Gelling, and two Scottish Senior Police officers, met with the Inspector General of Police Emmanuel K. Gasana, yesterday, and discussed how Rwanda and Scotland police forces can partner, especially in fighting Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child abuse.

The two officers, who are in the country on a four-day study tour, are Superintendent Shaun McKillop, who heads the International Development and Innovation Unit, and Senior Inspector Iain Ward of ‘Officer-Africa.’

They are in the country to learn more about Rwanda’s approach towards fighting GBV and to establish a working relationship between Rwandan and Scottish police institutions.

In his brief to the delegation, the IGP Gasana said: "We are going to learn more from each other on best practices in fighting GBV and child abuse, especially through training and knowledge transfer.”

He said that Rwanda has a multi-sectoral approach towards fighting the vices, whereby all stakeholders are brought on board to devise and implement strategies from the policy level down to handling of victims.

"RNP as an institution charged with law enforcement, we use community policing to reach out to the public and make them own the fight against GBV and child abuse. Besides that, we have scaled up Isange One Stop Centers across the country, put up gender desks in all districts and established a child help line and GBV toll-free lines. With these mechanisms, we have seen the public being more responsive against GBV and child abuse,” said IGP Gasana.

Isange, which also has a toll-free line - 3029 - offers free medical, psychological and legal services to victims of GBV and child abuse.

The child help line is 116 and 3512 for GBV.

Supt McKillop, on his part, said; "Rwanda could actually be the centre where countries could come and learn from... we are keen to share what we have achieved.”

He singled out Isange One Stop Centers as an initiative of great interest to them.

"We have an interest in looking at the end-to-end process; this means from the time a victim reports to the police, the investigations, the legal aspect and how the victim is reintegrated in society,” Supt McKillop said.

The delegation later visited Isange One Stop Centre at Kacyiru District Hospital, and Regional Centre of Excellence against GBV and child abuse.

The facility currently serves as a regional centre for research, data collection, documentation and training, among others.

The delegation will also visit the rehabilitation centre and other Isange centres in the Southern Province.

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