A data management system training organised for officials of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in the Ashanti Region, is yielding positive results.

The system known as DOVVSU Online Data Management System (DODMAS) is a tool that seeks to upgrade the skills and aid DOVVSU officials in collecting data for sexual and gender-based violence cases in their areas of operations.

The programme, funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also aims at enhancing the operations of DOVVSU by moving away from the current manual system of data collection to improve service delivery.

Some DOVVSU officials of the Ashanti Regional Police Command who benefitted from the DODMAS training, told a team of officials from UNFPA-Ghana which is monitoring UNFPA funded-programmes in the Region that service delivery had improved after the training.

They admitted that the previous system which involved manual data collection, was cumbersome and time-consuming.

Case management, accessibility and data analysis by officials at the district, regional and national levels, according to them, had become easier with the introduction of the data analysis software and commended the UNFPA for the support.

They also narrated how the training had improved their handling of domestic violence victims especially those already traumatised.

They however appealed for further training on case building on domestic violence and the provision of crime scene kits, arguing that, DOVVSU investigations went beyond the normal police investigations.

The monitoring team led by Mr Jude Domosie, Programme Analyst at the Tamale office of UNFPA-Ghana also visited the Regional office of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) which is also implementing a UNFPA- funded programme for adolescent girls.

The team later engaged one of the girls’ club at the New Age Preparatory School at Buokrom to ascertain the sort of education they were exposed to as well as the materials being used by the facilitators in educating them.

The second day of the monitoring exercise took the team to the Bosome Freho District, where they engaged some beneficiaries of UNFPA-funded programmes in the district.

First to meet the team were some adolescent girls trained as champions by the Rights and Responsibilities Initiatives Ghana (RRIG), as part of the implementation of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in the District.

The team also met some beneficiaries of a refresher training organised for some selected midwives from the Asiwa Health Centre to share their experiences and how the training was impacting on their work.

Another group of people the team interacted with were members of the Boys and Men Club as well as the Gender Desk Officer at the District Assembly.