Bimbilla (N/R), June 8, GNA - The police in Bimbilla in the Nunumber North District of the Northern Region have appealed to the high command of the police to post more personnel to the area to improve policing. They have also called for female police personnel to be posted to the area to man the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) saying that the unit was currently being occupied by two male officers whom opinio= n leaders of the area say does not auger well for women's interest.

Superintendent Joseph Allotey, the District Police Commander, confirming the inadequacy of police personnel in the area said there were only 35 policemen handling the Nunumber North and South with a weak Tata pickup for patrols. The police and opinion leaders raised these concerns when Action Aid Ghana and Songtaba, both NGOs paid working visits to the area to evaluate o= n going projects being done by the NGOs in those areas.

The Police Commander said the Eastern corridor roads passes through th= e area making the area very busy to motorists and therefore making the work o= f the police very cumbersome. Madam Gifty Baka, National Project Manager of 93Stop Violence Against Girls in School (SVAGS)" of Action Aid, said a female police officer mann= ing the DOVVSU would encourage more females to report cases of abuse. She said police women serving in the District will also serve as mentors to some of the female students who might want to join the police. She said though the police were few in the area, they were doing a goo= d job to protect violence against women.

Madam Baka said Action Aid and Songtaba had formed Child Protection Networks consisting of some decentralized institutions which have been collaborating in preventing violence against children. She said Peer Parent Educators Group as well as Girl's Clubs had bee= n formed in the 13 communities where they were working. Madam Baka said the NGOs had been encouraging school enrolment especially for the girl-child and had instituted motivational schemes such as the girl' camps where girls have been periodically sent to the cities to socialize and expose them to the world.

Madam Dorothy Kunadu, Action Aid Ghana Policy Advisor on Education was impressed after interacting with some of the Girl's Clubs at Afayili sayi= ng that the pupils had shown remarkable improvement in their assertiveness. She urged them to be discipline and serious with their studies and refrain from acts that could jeopardize their future. The pupils commended the NGOs without which they might not have been i= n school and appealed to them to provide potable water for the communities.