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Programmes pursuing scale should develop clear plans to harness opportunities, understand any constraints, and mitigate against risks. Scaling strategies should be developed in a participatory way with local actors to ensure they are informed by contextual expertise. Efforts to develop strategies should:

Map contextual opportunities and constraints. These could be linked to the policy, institutional, political or socio-cultural environment. Once identified, programmes should identify ways to build on these opportunities and adapt scaling efforts to work within the constraints.
Assess and…

Based on their learnings of scaling gender-based social norms approaches, the Community for Understanding Scaling Practices (CUSP) has recommended including at least seven key elements in a feminist approach to scale, as shown in the box and diagram here.

Source: Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP) Webinar An invitation to feminist scale. raisingvoices.org

When scaling EVAWG programming, it is important to ensure that the scaling process is ethical and upholds the work of existing feminist movement building that has been central to ending VAWG. The Community for Understanding Scaling Practices (CUSP) has identified six principles to underpin ethical scale for social norms programming, which are useful to consider for taking VAWG programmes to scale:

Prioritise accountability to communities: Recognise that contextual differences can lead to different outcomes, risks, and repercussions when a programme is scaled. Ensuring accountability to…

There are several ways that programmes can scale interventions, including:

Expanding the reach of an intervention within its original setting. For example, by implementing it across a province rather than just within a district.
Adapting the intervention, by implementing the same intervention in a new location, whilst tailoring it to that context.
Deepening the impact of the intervention by collaborating with multiple sectors and better integrating efforts to end VAWG into community systems and other sectors.
Programmes should consider which type of scale they are in the best position…

Organisational context is also key to developing effective programmes. Organisations should consider their capacity to implement programmes, the capacity of potential implementing partners, donor expectations and constraints that may support or hinder efforts to end VAWG, and the budget and timeframe available for implementing programming to end VAWG. A simple way to assess organisational capacity is to conduct a participatory SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

Internal to your organisation
External to your organisation

Strengths

What can your…

Effective programming also requires a deep understanding of the specific local context(s) where programme interventions will be implemented. This involves examining data on local VAWG prevalence rates, drivers of VAWG and risk factors for different types of VAWG; the local socio-cultural, economic and institutional context and how this may support or limit efforts to end VAWG; the needs and priorities of target populations; humanitarian, peace and other development challenges; and the accessibility and quality of services to support survivors of VAWG. Ensure your research is intersectional and…

This involves reviewing data on: Laws, policies and political will for ending VAWG; key actors and institutions working on VAWG, their interests, capacities and relationships; administrative data on VAWG cases; and existing efforts and initiatives working to end VAWG at the national level. When mapping the national institutional context, programmes should consider the following questions:

Government: Laws and policies

Which global and regional conventions on VAWG have been signed?
Which forms of VAWG are criminalised in law? What provisions are made to support the…

To increase the reach and impact of investments, it can be useful to consider the scalability of interventions. Integrating EVAWG programming into different sectors and within government systems can be a cost-effective and sustainable option. For example, the education sector has transformative potential to reduce violence with minimal additional cost and reducing violence also improves educational outcomes. Similarly, mainstreaming VAWG prevention and response into the health sector can be a useful way to expand access to support for survivors and prevent the recurrence of violence. See page…

Evidence shows that it is possible to prevent violence with well-designed and well-implemented programmes. When making the case for investment, it is important to consider evidence-based approaches that have been proven to work. The UN multi-agency RESPECT framework is a useful tool for guiding investment as it provides seven strategies for preventing violence that are based on the best available evidence. This global framework is currently being adapted to different contexts, for example, the regional office for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women and the Pan American Health…

When making the case for donors, it can be helpful to draw on evidence and data. There are several key arguments, which can be adapted to different contexts. Evidence from the Spotlight Initiative can also be found in the Imperative to Invest report.

Reasons
Evidence to support case
Violence is widespread – around 1 in 3 women globally experience violence.
See the WHO Global Database on VAW prevalence for the latest estimates of the % of women experiencing key forms of violence against women
Violence against women represents a breach of the fundamental human rights that are…