Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) • The Unit had 88 offices and desks as at 2011. It does not have the resources to cater for 120 other police stations. Attrition within the DOVVSU is also making it difficult to transfer officers to man newly created desks and offices. • Following the passage of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), 2007 the country has failed to pass the legal instruments for victim support. This is making it difficult for victims to access support. The legislative instrument to give full meaning to the Act is being developed. • The Unit has completed the Strategic Plan for the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service for 2010 to 2015 • The Unit has no shelters of its own and relies on a few civil society organizations (CSOs) that have set up shelters. The Christian Council donated an abandoned building to DV Secretariat of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for use as a shelter. Government is supporting the rehabilitation of the building. • Currently, only two trained clinical psychologists work with DOVVSU. An NGO, WISE, supports the counseling efforts in Accra. • The Victims of Domestic Violence Support Fund was launched in the last quarter 2011. The government provided a seed fund of GHC20,000.00. Source: Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), 2011 2.8 Fire Services The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) continued its core business of fire fighting, search and rescue, road traffic collision and fire investigation. To facilitate this core business the Service enlisted a thousand (1,000) personnel in 2011 to augment its force, bringing its total manpower strength to a total of 6,699 comprising 937 senior officers and 5,762 junior officers. The Service improved on its turn-out time to address disasters due to improvement in communication, acquisition of new equipment by the Government, and improvement in professionalism. The turn-out time for the Service continues, however, to be challenged by distance from the stations to the incidence scenes, human and vehicular traffic, lack of accessibility to fast growing communities, road blocks and diversions without prior Sixth Annual APRM Progress Report: January – December 2011 20