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In contexts with limited state provision of VAWG response services, WROs are often the first to fill gaps. They may also play a role as third-party observers and help hold service providers to account. Their engagement in service delivery can improve the quality and availability of services and thereby increase access for survivors. WROs are also often well-placed to reach communities that are otherwise excluded. For example, their networks may facilitate a wider geographical reach into rural areas, while their local knowledge may support them to engage informally with individuals who face…

Women’s movements and WROs, with their deep context-specific expertise and close connections to communities, are often pioneers of innovative approaches to ending VAWG. For example, WROs have pioneered various models and mechanisms for advancing the rights of women and survivors of VAWG and ensuring there are appropriate, survivor-centred services to meet their needs. These include women’s police stations and family courts, which are now widely adopted by security sector actors globally.

WROs have also developed innovative, evidence-based VAWG prevention programmes such as the SASA…

Being accountable to women and girls means ensuring that their needs, priorities and safety are at the centre of all programming and advocacy work. The best way to achieve this is to work and partner directly with women's organisations and movements, that are led by women and work for and with their women members.

For example, in response to the increased funding of VAWG programmes globally, and the engagement of various new actors, the Coalition of Feminists for Social Change (COFEM) worked to create the Feminist Pocketbook. This is an accessible resource aimed at helping organisations…

Women’s movements and WROs are often most directly affected by the issues they are addressing, including violence and gender inequality. They are likely to have a deep understanding of the drivers of VAWG in their communities, the risk factors faced by women, and the barriers that prevent them from accessing support services. This expertise means they are well-placed to support the design and implementation of EVAWG programmes to overcome these challenges. They are also in a strong position to advise about risks of backlash or local dynamics that a programme may need to navigate to be…

VAWG programmes aim to shift gender and power inequalities and therefore can lead to negative responses and backlash from community members, men and power holders – such as resistance, controlling behaviours and/or further violence. Most practitioners can identify some form of resistance in their day-to-day experiences of working in this space: institutional inertia, denial of support for feminist work, pushback on “progressive” feminist agendas, attacks on civil society spaces, or even the re-emergence of resistance because of shifting political agendas. Therefore, all programmes should…

When planning M&E, it can be useful to think about how M&E can support decisions about whether to adapt or scale up a VAWG programme. For adaptation, the pilot stage is a key time to establish robust M&E systems that can help track results and fidelity (whether the intervention has maintained fidelity to the core components of the original programme), identify unintended consequences, and if necessary, implement risk mitigation measures or pivot programming. Additionally, process/implementation evaluations can also help programmes to learn about what is working and not working, and identify…

Both routine data and monitoring data collection activities in VAWG programmes are critical opportunities for women and girls to engage in the planning, implementation and analysis stages and to make space for affected populations to have their voices heard. Thus, collecting and/or analysing any information from women and girls about their experiences of violence must be done in a safe and ethical manner to ensure their physical, psychological, and social wellbeing is not put at risk in the process. This ensures that programme development and implementation, advocacy and resource mobilization…

A monitoring plan guides how the intervention will be tracked and examined or assessed overall. It also defines project objectives and assumptions, indicators, data collection methods and activities, and plans for disseminating results including strategies, procedures, resources, partnerships, roles and responsibilities, and schedules.

At the early design stage, an M&E focal point and evaluation team (ideally with experience in VAWG programming) should be appointed and engaged to help with initial thinking on the M&E approach and methodologies. This ensures robust monitoring processes are…

An evaluation approach should be identified early in the programme design phase. This ensures that targets are realistic, partnerships are established, and sufficient budget, time and resources are allocated to match the evaluation’s scope and complexity. It often requires a tailored mix of methodologies, ranging from experimental (e.g. randomized controlled trials), quasi-experimental (e.g. difference in differences), to non-experimental (e.g. pre- and post- studies) approaches, alongside methods like participatory evaluation, most significant change and outcome harvesting. It is also…

An M&E framework is a key guidance tool underpinning an M&E system. There are 7 main steps to take when developing an M&E framework for a VAWG programme:

Conduct formative research/situational analysis to identify issues/challenges and establish the problem statement of the Theory of Change. It can also be useful to map the stakeholders and other programmes and projects.
Develop a Theory of Change (ToC) to outline how and why the desired change is expected to happen in a VAWG programme. A ToC begins with a clear problem statement, identifying the specific issue the programme aims to…