Advanced Search

In Indonesia, nearly 65% of migrant workers are women. Women migrant workers send remittances back to their countries of origin providing critical support for the health, education and wellbeing of their families. They also contribute to the economy in their host countries like Indonesia. Nonetheless, they often struggle to be recognised as formal workers and face discrimination exploitation and violence at the hands of employers, co-workers, partners, law enforcement officials and even frontline service providers. In Indonesia, there has been important progress with the passage of a law to…

This programme worked with Muslim religious leaders – and in partnership with Tajikistan’s State Agency Committee on Religious Affairs and the Regulation of Traditions, Celebrations, and Ceremonies (CRA) - with a view to shifting attitudes, practices and norms to improve gender equality, promote healthy relationships in families, promote sexual and reproductive health and rights and prevent gender-based violence, including domestic violence and early marriage. It trained 270 Imams using the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ handbook and encouraged them to address these issues in sermons and through their…

The Kyrgyzstan Programme set up a Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (P-MER) function, a joint monitoring mission to Osh and Naryn regions in April 2022 with a group consisting of 13 representatives from key ministries and departments of the Government of Kyrgyz Republic, including the Office of the President, 8 Civil Society National Reference Group members, 14 representatives of the UN implementing agencies of Spotlight Initiative and the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) and four media representatives. All members of the team came together to agree on a common vision, plan…

In 2021, Spotlight Initiative in Tajikistan supported the establishment of the School of Gender Activists (SGA). This initiative is the first-of-its-kind, aimed at building the capacities of CSOs working to end VAWG. The SGA works to train up local experts who can advise the Committee of Women and Family Affairs, as well as other ministries implementing and promoting gender policies in Tajikistan. The programme to establish the SGA was split into two phases. The first focused on individuals already working within NGOs, while the second targeted youth aged 18-35. The programme also engaged with…

At the global level, Spotlight Initiative consolidates country-level information received into a central result-based management system called the SMART platform. This monitoring and reporting tool gathers performance data at the outcome and output levels, linking programme-related result indicators so evaluators can better measure the efficiency and effectiveness of Spotlight Initiative. Result indicators are specific to each country or regional programme. For outcomes, shared indicators are defined in the overall and regional result frameworks.

Programme stakeholders are obligated to…

In Kyrgyzstan, Spotlight Initiative worked with parliamentarians to end violence against women and girls. A key achievement was the establishment of the Council on the Rights of Women, Children, and Gender Equality in 2022, by order of the Torago of the Jogorku Kenesh (the Speaker of the Parliament). This Council serves as a crucial liaison between parliamentarians and women’s rights organisations. It supported the development of a strategic action plan for 2023-2026, focused on enhancing civic engagement in law-making. This plan facilitated the participation of women’s rights groups…

The Safe and Fair programme is part of Spotlight Initiative. It aims to ensure that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Implemented by ILO and UN Women, along with UNODC, the programme recognizes that women migrant workers in ASEAN countries are at an increased risk of violence, trafficking and exploitation. Addressing these challenges requires a nuanced understanding of both global, regional and national frameworks.

The Safe and Fair programme helped to develop guidance for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as an…

This video provides practical tips for essential service providers on how to engage with survivors in a gender-sensitive and survivor-centred manner. This video was developed as part of the programme "Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region (2018–2023)". 

Spotlight Initiative’s Kyrgyzstan Programme revised and updated existing ethical guidelines and protocols for data collection, sharing and reporting on SGBV/VAWG, and integrating confidentiality and safety provisions. In 2022, the programme provided capacity development to the Office of the National Statistics Committee (NSC), and other responsible public bodies on collecting statistics based on recent legislative amendments related to gender-based violence, to develop standardised reporting forms and ethical protocols for the use of VAWG data as well as digitise case management. These efforts…

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…