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Spotlight Initiative, in consortia with World Vision and the national CSO Psychosocial Recovery and Development in East Timor (PRADET), designed and tested a model for empowering and providing psychosocial support to girls and adolescents who are survivors or at risk of sexual gender-based violence (GBV) in Timor-Leste. The process was informed by a mapping exercise in Ermera municipality, which sought to identify specialised survivor-centred services for adolescents outside of the capital, and involved 1,049 adolescents (522 boys and 527 girls) who provided insights on their specific sexual…
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many Spotlight Initiative programmes were already being implemented and teams had to quickly adapt implementation to changing realities. Overall, Spotlight Initiative rapidly accelerated and redirected more than USD 21 million across programmes to address VAWG in the context of COVID-19. For example:
Mobile and remote services were developed and reinforced to address the acute needs of women and girls. For example, the Zimbabwe programme scaled up mobile one-stop centre service provision, exceeding the set target by 300% and bringing women with…
Children aged 2 to 14 years, clap, stomp their feet, dance and sing under the porch of a small house in a suburb of Timor-Leste’s capital, Dili. The children are taking part in Spotlight Initiative-supported Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) activities under the Child Friendly Space (CFS) initiative organized by the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion (MSSI), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and non-governmental organization Ba Futuru (for the Future).
"My children look forward to the CFS activities. They sing, dance, are safe and happier.” - Angelina Menes…
In 2022 the Spotlight Initiative grantee, Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI), launched a training to build understanding within Marshall Island Police Departments about how to take a survivor-centred approach, how to respond to VAWG survivors, and promoting positive masculinities. WUTMI worked closely with the mayors of each outer island to ensure police forces committed to the training. They encouraged mayors to join the training themselves to demonstrate their political leadership and commitment to ending violence against women and girls. Some testimonies from these officers…
In 2022, the Spotlight Initiative Pacific Regional Programme supported Cookhouse Confidential, an informal group of women from multiple organisations and agencies that work together to discuss and tackle women’s menstrual health issues in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Working together, Spotlight Initiative and Cookhouse Confidential administered small grants focused on efforts to advance sexual and reproductive health.
One such grant funded three women tailors in Ebeye, in the Marshall Islands, to produce reusable menstrual pads. These pads in turn were distributed to 250…
Spotlight Initiative established a Regional Gender Based Violence (GBV) Administrative Data Technical Reference Group in the Pacific region. This group works with key stakeholders to build their capacity on how to develop and manage robust GBV case management systems. Stakeholders include national statistics offices, the justice sector and the police sector across the Pacific. This reference group works to:
Support regional dialogues to share learning across the region
Build a community of practice on developing GBV admin data systems in the Pacific
Provide technical support…
During COVID-19, Spotlight Initiative programmes needed to rapidly pivot programming to respond to the increase in violence against women and girls during the pandemic.
To meet the immediate needs of women and girls experiencing or at risk of violence, Spotlight Initiative Samoa programme took a flexible approach by repurposing its funds to work with the Ministry for Women, Community and Social Development and frontline service providers such as civil society organisations to create and distribute 400 “Prevention Packs” containing information and materials on COVID-19 and GBV translated in…