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Work with adolescent girls cannot be effectively undertaken in isolation of wider attitudes, behaviours and social norms that shape the lives of girls, or without engaging key stakeholders that influence the lives of girls including parents and caregivers, service providers, men and boys and traditional or faith leaders.

This is especially important as social attitudes and contexts can influence the normalisation of violence against girls, such as Early and Forced Child Marriage (EFCM), Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), older men making sexual approaches to girls once they reach…

An important element of working with and for girls on VAWG programming involves providing access to high-quality, girl-friendly services for girls who have experienced violence. Working with girls can also require additional sensitivity and specialised training; where girls have survived violence, it’s important to provide them with age-sensitive care. The types of violence that girls are exposed to, their capacity and agency, and the resources available to them can vary significantly across developmental stages of girlhood. Services should be age and developmentally appropriate, located in a…

Adolescence is a time of rapid physical and cognitive development, so it is important to consider different approaches to engage at different stages of girlhood and adolescence. Approaches that work with girls at age 10 will usually vary from those with 19-year-olds. At the same time, it is important to consider the specific circumstances of adolescent girls: approaches that work with in-school girls may need to be different for out-of-school girls, for married girls, or girls who are mothers. Research suggests that interventions using group-based approaches are most effective when girls who…

Inclusion of a diverse range of girls is important to ensure that programmes address the different experiences, needs and priorities among girls and leave no one behind. Girls and young women from marginalised groups can face increased challenges and risks of violence. For instance, adolescents with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled adolescents, with girls being at particular risk of sexual violence. There are many ways girls can be meaningfully engaged in policy and programming work, for instance leadership opportunities, peer mentorship…

Monitoring and evaluating capacity building efforts can support programmes to learn and build from what has worked well and what could be improved. Programmes should consider conducting pre- and post- training assessments; participant feedback surveys; self-assessment tools, training facilitator surveys; satisfaction surveys; and progress reports. These should be linked to baselines that are set at the start of the capacity building process. Employing multiple evaluation methods in the short, medium and long-term supports comprehensive evaluations which can capture learning and be used to…

In order to challenge longstanding inequalities in the international development sector, it is important to engage and strengthen expertise in the Global South. For example, rather than recruiting an international researcher to conduct data analysis, programmes could support research teams from the Global South who are collecting the data to develop skills to conduct this analysis and present the findings themselves. Some programmes in the ending VAWG sector - such as the What Works programme - engaged a team of Technical Advisors who were mainly based in the Global South and, in some cases…

Capacity building efforts should be tailored to the needs of partners and their contexts. Involving partners in the design of capacity building efforts can help identify which approaches they have found useful or less effective in the past. Capacity building efforts can also introduce new approaches informed by best and innovative practice but should be mindful of partner preferences.

Involving partners in the design of capacity building initiatives can also help identify what is achievable within resource constraints. Partner engagement at this stage can help build an understanding of the…

For capacity building efforts to be truly responsive to the needs of partners, it is important for initiatives to be flexible. While programmes should try to identify needs during initial capacity assessments, new needs may emerge during the programme. Programmes will be well placed to meet emerging needs if they build in flexible resourcing arrangements, conduct close monitoring, and provide opportunities for ongoing reflection with partners about capacity building needs and approaches.

Reciprocal learning approaches recognise that different partners already have a range of varied skills and experiences and proactively create opportunities to share those skills. This helps to value all types of expertise and dismantle inequitable relationships and power dynamics between partners. For example, WROs may have more practical and lived experience of the needs of communities on the ground and what works when advocating to end VAWG in that context. On the other hand, an INGO may have more experience writing funding proposals and navigating donor applications. UN and Government…

Capacity building efforts need to be demand-driven and informed by the needs, aspirations and interests of partners. The most effective way to achieve this is to conduct participatory capacity assessments with partners to review skills and knowledge across a range of areas critical for effective VAWG programme delivery e.g. technical skills on VAWG prevention and response; foundational skills around financial and project management, report writing, or proposal writing. Tools and guidance to support capacity assessments include:

Spotlight Initiative Guidance on Capacity Development
UN…