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In 2020, Spotlight Initiative’s Latin America Regional Programme provided funding to support a Latin American coalition of WROs, feminist organisations and civil society organisations led by the Centre for Justice and International Law in Honduras. This coalition was advocating for the passage of a new protocol called “La Esperanza Protocol”, one of the first of its type, which aims to improve the investigation of and response to serious threats and attacks against human rights defenders.
A coalition of over 20 CSOs, women's and feminist organisations, spearheaded by the Center for Justice…
Participatory monitoring ensures a needs-driven approach that adapts as new needs arise, enabling programmes to help identify appropriate interventions to meet the specific needs of survivors and civil society organisations.
Spotlight Initiative in Belize embraced a collaborative approach with civil society partners throughout the programming cycle, including in monitoring and reporting processes. Through community-based dialogues with implementing partners and beneficiaries, stakeholder consultations, and programmatic visits, the voices of civil society partners were meaningfully reflected…
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…
Spotlight Initiative’s overarching goal in its Theory of Change (ToC) is to ensure that all women, especially those who are marginalised and vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices. Together with its partners, Spotlight Initiative aims to make concrete changes in six Outcome Areas or Pillars to end VAWG. Changes in these six Outcome Areas contribute to achieving SDG 5 and SDG 16. ToC “if/then” logic statements were then crafted for each Outcome to describe the desired results.
Example: IF/THEN TOC for Outcome 1 (Legislative and policy frameworks)
IF
(1) Women and VAWG…
In 2021, the Spotlight Initiative team in Malawi conducted a mid-term assessment to take stock of the first phase of the Spotlight Initiative programme, which ran from 2019-2022. The aim was to assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of the programme and to develop relevant recommendations to improve project implementation.
The evaluation team conducted Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 62 individuals. These were spread across national and sub-national levels and included six government officials, three EU Delegation staff…
At its inception, Spotlight Initiative developed a Global Results Framework including a range of indicators measuring specific outputs, from which country programmes then selected indicators as appropriate to their context. The framework features impact, outcome and output indicators, with annual reporting documenting progress at the country level.
One indicator example is Output 2.2: Multi-stakeholder national and/or sub-national coordination mechanisms established at the highest level and/or strengthened that are adequately funded and include multi-sectoral representation and…
Civil Society Reference Groups (CSRGs) have been formed at the national, regional and global levels to advise, monitor and hold Spotlight Initiative programmes accountable to women, girls and feminist movements. As a reflection of participatory monitoring, national CRSGs have developed independent scorecards to monitor Spotlight Initiative’s processes and systems, with a focus on civil society participation in programme design, access to funding, and engagement in implementation, among other areas. The scorecards, and approach to the scorecard, represents an increasingly (participatory) way…
The Niger Civil Society Reference Group (CSRG) have implemented and tested various PME approaches to assess national programme results. Through monitoring visits conducted in all four target provinces in-country, members of the CSRG have listened to the stories of women and girls served by Spotlight Initiative, learning more about their expectations and hopes. In a safe and secure environment, Civil Society Reference Group members transformed “programme beneficiaries” into valuable advisers and agents of change. For example, the National CRSG conducted independent monitoring using the Civil…
Global-level work by Spotlight Initiative on participatory monitoring and evaluation has provided critical support to national-level leadership in advancing participatory monitoring and evaluation. For example, in Malawi, the Spotlight Initiative team set up monitoring structures at district level called “communities of practices”. These are composed of diverse stakeholders and led by district officials, taking a decentralised approach in order to create a more autonomous approach to reporting, including on Spotlight Initiative programming. They are seen as instrumental to ensuring local…
The Safe Mobile App (SAV-APP) aims to improve the ability to report, respond and fast-track cases of violence. Designed primarily for young women between 12 and 24 years, the app not only facilitates timely reporting of incidents but also connects women with medical, counselling, and policy assistance in emergencies. Launched in 2020, the app was developed with the support of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund under Spotlight Initiative.
"Through Spotlight Initiative, we have seen more women and girls coming up to report cases by themselves." - Inspector Muna Meah, Commander in the…