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Spotlight Initiative has made progress in bringing the elimination of violence against women and girls to the forefront of national government agendas by adopting a whole-of-government approach. Key strategies and learning include:
Programmes have directly engaged with the highest level of government, such as Heads of State, Ministers, and entities in charge of national development and planning, to secure political buy-in for ending VAWG to be a strategic national priority.
Supporting cross-government coordination mechanisms on EVAWG: Spotlight Initiative programmes have helped government…
Spotlight Initiative aimed to build strong political commitment from the outset through working closely with Heads of State, ministers and parliamentarians, to encourage them to champion ending VAWG and implement laws, policies and programmes to enable this. Key approaches and learnings include:
Training parliamentarians on drafting VAWG legislation: Several Spotlight Initiative country programmes offered specialised training to parliamentarians on drafting and implementing VAWG legislation (e.g. Argentina, Honduras, Liberia, Malawi and Zimbabwe). This training focused on equipping…
A key focus of Spotlight Initiative has been to strengthen mechanisms for the implementation of laws and policies through supporting the development of national and sub-national action plans on ending VAWG, under Pillar 1 (Laws and Policies) and Pillar 2 (Institutions). Key approaches and learning include:
At a country level, Spotlight Initiative programmes have supported 43 countries to strengthen their national action plans to end violence against women and girls. In 2022, Spotlight Initiative also helped develop 80 new plans, strategies or programmes to address violence against women and…
The design of Spotlight Initiative builds on over four decades of global commitments to end VAWG, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women - as well as key regional conventions such as the 1994 Convention of Belém do Pará in the Americas, the 2003 Maputo Protocol in Africa, and the 2011 Istanbul Convention in Europe. Spotlight Initiative programmes have aligned their work with the provisions of these frameworks using the following approaches:
The Spotlight…
National policy and legal environments are often fluid and can change quickly. It is important that programmes update their analysis regularly, and especially in anticipation of and response to significant political events such as national elections and other changes in government or leadership. A review of Spotlight Initiative programmes across Latin America and Africa in 2022 found that elections and changes in government in Mali, Niger, Liberia, Argentina and Mexico had significant impacts on programming. The programmes had to engage with newly elected government officials to gain their…
Through the analysis, identify which groups of people are excluded from decision-making. For example, are there women in Parliament? If so, do they face barriers to influencing change? Are they primarily from elite backgrounds and are women from poorer, rural or minority religious or ethnic backgrounds excluded? Are women with disabilities, adolescent girls, or LBT women included in decision-making? Are survivors of VAWG given a platform to influence decision-making? Once you have a better understanding of which groups hold positions of power and which are excluded, you will be in a better…
In many contexts, there is a hybrid legal system or coexistence of state law and traditional or religious laws. In some cases, there is clarity about the jurisdiction of these different systems, but, in other cases, this is less clear or not implemented in practice. There can also be significant difference between the content of state laws and traditional or religious laws, especially regarding the protection and rights of women and girls. It is important to analyse these realities and also look at women and girls’ preferences for accessing justice. Even though, on paper, state laws may offer…
If programmes are working at the sub-national level, it is important to identify any enablers or barriers that may impact VAWG programming in those particular states, regions or districts. For example, there may be a national law that criminalises intimate partner violence, but within a particular region, the knowledge or implementation of this law may be limited. In some contexts, there are also local by-laws which may be more or less progressive than national legislation. Equally, there may be strong anti-equality sentiment at the national level, but within a particular state, local…
Identify which laws and policies already exist to protect women and girls from VAWG and hold perpetrators to account, along with gaps that need to be addressed. Consider how these laws impact on different populations of women and girls at risk and survivors of violence. For example, if homosexuality is illegal, this would put survivors with diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions and identities, at risk of arrest if they seek support, posing a substantial barrier to them accessing mainstream services. Ensure your analysis looks at wider laws which impact gender equality and women and…
A robust analysis will include an identification of key decision-makers across the executive and legislative parts of government, their interests and commitments and the likelihood of them supporting or blocking positive changes in laws and policies. Consider, for example, which government ministers have a history of voting in favour of laws to protect and promote women’s rights. These may be allies who are more sympathetic to work to end VAWG. Equally, be aware of decision-makers that may be resistant and consider how to protect your efforts from their potential influence. Finally, it is also…