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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…

In Kyrgyzstan, Spotlight programme used a mobile game, “Mystery of Sary Kol”, to raise awareness of the dangers of child marriage, reaching over 39,000 players. This game was developed as a follow-up to the successfully designed and launched “Spring in Bishkek” mobile game in 2021, which focused on forced marriage. Both games were jointly designed with adolescent girls.

According to a survey of players of “Mystery of Sary Kol”, the game has significantly influenced players’ beliefs that child marriage is a crime (86% of players), improved the willingness of players to help a friend who…

The Central Asia and Afghanistan Regional Programme partnered with TikTok to launch regional campaigns to address harmful social norms around violence. Based on the multi-stakeholder evidence collected, the Spotlight Initiative programme partnered with five social media influencers and produced 15 TikTok videos. These videos were widely disseminated with an estimated target audience of 200,000 social media users, likely contributing to heightened awareness of, and an improved understanding on, the issues of gendered violence, harassment, gender stereotypes and discrimination.

Additionally…