Isange One Stop Centre is one of the effective services that African countries should embrace to fight to injustices women and children continue to face, visiting Namibian lawmakers said yesterday. The parliamentarians were visiting Isange One Stop Centre at Kacyiru hospital as part of their tour in Rwanda since last Saturday to learn good practices in the fight against gender based violence and child abuse, among others. “As lawmakers, we decided to undertake a trip to Rwanda to share experiences and best practices on services that all of us as Africans should deliver for the good of our people,” Hilma Nicanor, one of the Namibian lawmakers, said. “This Isange One Stop centre is one of the services our people require. We are impressed by what we have witnessed and learned from here. The multi-facet services that are rendered here and to communities in terms of responding to incidences of assault, rape, defilement that are especially faced by women, girls and children, is one those holistic services that we all need,” Nicanor said. She added: “It’s inspiring, and it arouses hope that a victim can come here and acquire all services for free. As the name says – one stop centre – we are impressed that all services can be assessed under one roof, which is something that we have picked as very important…an experience that we have learnt that will also benefit our people back home.” At Isange, the delegation was received and briefed by the Deputy Commissioner for Public Relations, Media and Protocol, Chief Supt. Lynder Nkuranga. Nkuranga gave them the overview of the centre since its establishment in 2009 with the support of the First Lady Jeannette Kagame through Imbuto Foundation. “Isange is structured in a way that all services are offered under one roof for free. Treatments, judicial support, evidence collection to support the judicial process against the culprit, psycho-socio services, are all catered for here to ensure that victims are fully rehabilitated and justice is served,” she explained. “The victims can be sheltered until they’re back to their feet before they are discharged and followed up from home, where necessary, to ensure that they are fully reintegrated.” The centre, which has been replicated in at least 28 hospitals across the country, also has a Post-exposure prophylaxis therapy (PEP), an antiretroviral medicines (ART) service that prevent potentially exposed to HIV from becoming infected as well as unwanted pregnancies that may result from rape or defilement.
