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In 2022, the Spotlight Initiative Latin America Regional Programme was able to map and collect more than 600 gender-based violence prevention strategies from 18 countries, generating important recommendations on effective GBV prevention strategies. Some of the recommendations include:
Reinforcing critical approaches, intersectional analysis, and taking a multicultural dimension
Identifying conditions and barriers of access to information and state actions and policies
Enhancing sustainability and scaling up of processes, and leadership that promotes the building of social norms that…
The Spotlight Initiative programme in Liberia developed a Comprehensive Prevention Strategy for the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful practices through a coordinated and multi-stakeholder partnership. It is the first comprehensive prevention strategy in the region and in Africa which is:
Informed by a literature review and a participatory approach to primary and secondary data collection and analysis to assess risk and protective factors; engaging stakeholders at national, county and community levels including Government ministries, law enforcement, the…
In a male-dominated political landscape, it can be especially challenging for women with disabilities to enter politics. In Zimbabwe, Spotlight Initiative identified low participation of persons with disabilities - especially women - in political processes or political leadership.
In response, Spotlight Initiative implemented a training programme to educate women and girls with disabilities about their human rights, how to engage in policy and law-making and how to advocate for and access legal and gender-based violence services if needed. In partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability…
In 2022, the Spotlight Initiative Secretariat and the Global Civil Society Reference Group conducted global peer-learning workshops to exchange lessons and experiences on their monitoring work. Based on this, at least seven Reference Groups have produced Advocacy Scorecards, with additional scorecards in the pipeline.
The scorecards do not assess the impact of Spotlight Initiative programming and outcome results, but rather look at the extent to which Spotlight Initiative processes and systems support the participation, protection and involvement of civil society in general, and feminist…
The Safe Space Mentorship Program (SSMP) in Malawi paired the establishment of safe spaces with mentorship programming. This programme supports girls and young women to report instances of violence and access resources and services. It also promotes gender equitable social norms, attitudes and behavioural change at community and individual levels. Focused on girls and young women from 10 to 24 years old, SSMP is a weekly 6-month programme that addresses gender perspectives, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices (HP), referral pathways…
In Malawi, Spotlight Initiative strengthened women’s movements in three regions (north, central and southern regions) and supported the formation of a national level movement: The Women’s Manifesto, coordinated by civil society organisations. Aligning with the principle of leave no one behind, the movement’s leadership includes rural women, survivors of violence, persons with disabilities and persons with albinism. Sixty five leaders from the movement developed their ability to use community scorecards (as a social accountability tool), create action plans and advance evidence-based advocacy…
All Spotlight Initiative programmes adopted a comprehensive theory of change and worked across all the Spotlight Initiative pillars to develop a comprehensive VAWG programme. The approach taken by Spotlight Initiative Mozambique was as follows:
To support legislation and policies to end VAWG (pillar 1), the Spotlight Initiative worked with the Government of Mozambique to reinforce legislation and policies and develop multiple legal and policy instruments. These instruments included the Multi-sectoral Mechanism for Prevention, Reporting, Referral and Response to Violence Against Children at…
Spotlight Initiative in Malawi developed the Kuwala Knowledge Management Platform, which facilitates information sharing, knowledge exchange and cooperation at technical and analytical levels on issues related to gender equality and violence against women and girls that have emerged from programme implementation.
One key feature of the platform is its ability to visualise month-to-month trends in violence, broken down by region and types of cases reported. This allows users to identify trends over time and spot increases, investigate the reasons behind the increase, and get resources to the…
The Spotlight Initiative Secretariat has also played a pivotal role in fostering cross-regional and intraregional knowledge exchanges by organising in person convenings.
The Global Learning Symposium (GLS), which took place in Mexico in 2022, drew over 200 participants from the United Nations, government, civil society and other stakeholders, and aimed to consolidate the gains made over the past five years of the Initiative. A total of 45 plenary and thematic sessions were organised, providing a space for deep reflection and sharing of results, lessons learned and best practices across…
In March 2022, Spotlight Initiative, through a partnership with the UN Trust Fund, created a multi-stakeholder online hub for global exchange called SHINE. SHINE Hub operates as a combined knowledge hub, community of practice and advocacy hub, and is the first online knowledge exchange hub that brings together government, civil society, the United Nations, the European Union and other practitioners for active engagement to end violence against women and girls, and in the co-creation of knowledge.
The platform is accessible in more than 50 languages. It supports the creation, collaboration…