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Children and adolescents have distinct needs that require different solutions to those of adults. Child and adolescent survivors of GBV may face barriers to accessing information about services and funds to access those services. They may also be particularly fearful of reporting incidences of GBV and seeking help, especially if they do not have a safe place to go to. In the case of the sexual abuse of adolescent girls, they may fear being blamed for the abuse. In addition, services may be designed with adult survivors in mind, meaning children are unable to access them without missing school…

Programmes should budget for producing and disseminating information about how survivors can access services in a variety of formats. For example:

Documents with information and instructions as a series of images to support those with limited literacy.
Easy Read documents can help people with learning and processing impairments access information about GBV services. 
Documents in a variety of relevant languages can improve access to information for displaced people who do not speak the local language. 
Documents in online and paper formats gives survivors flexibility about whether to…

It is essential that programme designers gain a comprehensive understanding of survivor decision-making around reporting and the barriers they face in accessing services. During the programme design phase, teams should work with survivors to conduct this barrier analysis and to co-develop strategies to address these barriers and ensure the programme is able to maximise the number and diversity of survivors it reaches, paying particular attention to reaching marginalised groups and leaving no one behind. 

The data gathered during the service mapping can be used to help inform both the design of a new service or programme and also to support programmes to develop clear referral pathways. Clear referral pathways will help new programmes or services connect survivors to other services that they may need access to. The following is an example of the type of information a programme might want to collect in order to support them to refer survivors to other services.

Organisation name
Focal point
Contact details
Services available
Hours of operation
Any requirements or…

Deciding which questions to include in a mapping will depend on your context, resources, and scope of programme. Some key questions to consider include but are not limited to:

What types of services currently exist? How many of each?
Who are the actors proving services (government? CSOs?)
Are these services accessible to everyone, including people living in vulnerable situations?
What are the specific context barriers to accessing these services?
What is the quality of the services provided?
Do these services take a survivor-centred approach to delivery?
Is an integrated…

There are a range of ways to identify existing VAWG response services during a service mapping process. Which method/methods are most effective will depend on your context and available resources. Ensure that you actively seek out the experiences of diverse survivors such as survivors with disabilities, LBT survivors, refugee survivors and survivors from persecuted ethnicities during your mapping. Without considering the availability of services for diverse survivors, your mapping of services will be incomplete. Some approaches to gathering information include:

Conducting an online search…

Supporting survivors of VAWG to recover from violence requires a holistic approach that ensures their access to a broad range of services. Mapping should consider as many services as possible to help identify gaps in provision and opportunities for new programmes to link to existing services. Services to consider include, but are not limited, to: 

Health Services, including: hospitals, health clinics (public and private), mobile clinics, sexual and reproductive health clinics, school health clinics
Police, courts and legal services, including: specialist police units for women and…

An innovative way to increase the effectiveness of partner selection is to invite CSOs and WROs as participants or observers in review panels. Spotlight Initiative recommends inviting Civil Society Reference Group (CRSG) members to review panels to improve the panel’s understanding of the challenges of addressing VAWG and the contextual realities that partners have to deal with. When including civil society members, it is important to establish a clear code of conduct to mitigate potential conflicts of interest. Another interesting example is the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund’s regular…

Some countries have government policies or laws which restrict the implementing partners that can be contracted and the ways in which they can work. For example, there may be rules on international funding of national NGOs for advocacy work, NGO registration requirements, and restrictions on certain activities. When choosing partners, it is important to check and understand the national regulations and, if necessary, seek legal advice to ensure compliance.

When selecting consortiums, be mindful of situations where multiple layers of implementing partners are involved, such as when an INGO or private contractor engages a national NGO, which then involves smaller community-based or women’s rights organisations in project delivery. While this approach may address fiduciary requirements, it can lead to top-down, extractive approaches where smaller partners have limited opportunities to shape programme design.  

Look for consortiums that share common values, such as collaboration, accountability, respectful exchange, and feminist leadership. Other…