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Drawing on analysis from across all country and regional programmes, trust funds, and a global learning exchange, Spotlight Initiative has gathered a number of insights and lessons learned about engaging the private sector to prevent and respond to VAWG: 


Increase the visibility and awareness of VAWG in the workplace, which strengthens leadership and political buy-in to address violence. In Belize, Spotlight Initiative’s team engaged private sector companies in an awareness-raising campaign to raise the visibility of VAWG issues within the workplace, designing posters with key messaging…

Spotlight Initiative has used four key strategies in its programmes to engage men and boys in work to end VAWG:

Engage male leaders and role models in the community to challenge social norms used to justify VAWG. Spotlight Initiative programmes have worked with sports stars, male celebrities, and religious leaders to denounce VAWG, promote respectful behaviour towards women; and raise awareness of the impacts of VAWG. For example:

In Nigeria and Argentina, programmes have worked with sports stars in football to denounce VAWG and promote respectful behaviour towards women.
In Tajikistan…

CSOs and WROs are key partners of Spotlight Initiative. Priority civil society partners include WROs, feminist activists and women’s movements, as well as CSOs representing groups facing intersecting forms of discrimination. These include but are not limited to, women and girls living in rural communities, women and girls from ethnic minorities and indigenous communities, women and girls living with HIV/AIDS, LGBTQI+ persons, women and girls with disabilities, domestic and informal workers, and sex workers. Spotlight Initiative’s partnership with civil society is guided by three principles: (1…

The Spotlight Initiative 2022 Global Annual Narrative Progress Report highlighted several cross-cutting lessons from the Spotlight Initiative’s experience of implementation:

A whole-of-society approach encourages collaboration among all stakeholder to collectively address violence against women and girls.
Engaging community structures and local authorities in community-centred approached promotes accountability, local ownership and long-term commitment, influencing positive shifts in attitudes and norms.
Strengthening skills across all grassroots movements, government, activists and…

The Governance structure of Spotlight Initiative and administrative responsibilities are outlined in the Fund Operations Manual Compendium and depicted below.

At the programme level, Spotlight Initiative programmes are governed by National and Regional Steering Committees. Steering Committees are context-specific and aligned with the priorities of each programme. They provide oversight and help facilitate coordination. For example, National Steering Committees engage in monitoring implementation, providing strategic advice and decision-making, and ensuring sustainability efforts are in…

A specific focus on marginalised women and girls: Spotlight Initiative’s overarching goal is to ensure that all women, especially those who are marginalised and vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices. This means programmes variously include a focus on women and girls with disabilities, indigenous people, migrant women and girls, ethnic minorities, those living in poverty, or any other historically marginalised group facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

Take action to implement the “leave no one behind” (LNOB) principle: Spotlight Initiative invests…

Key learning from Spotlight Initiative’s approaches to programme strategy development include:

The importance of conducting contextual research to inform the programme strategy: All Spotlight Initiative programmes were advised to conduct baseline studies to inform their monitoring framework / results reporting in the inception phase. In addition, Spotlight Initiative programmes in several countries and regions conducted additional research using various research methods to better understand the drivers of specific forms of violence, the national and specific local contexts, the existing…

At the global level

As an inter-agency initiative, anchored in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, Spotlight Initiative leverages the collective expertise of the core UN implementing organisations – the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The Secretariat coordinates efforts to support teams worldwide, foster learning and share best practices. This global coordination aims to have a ripple effect, strengthening inter-agency partnerships at all…

Spotlight Initiative applies a survivor-centred approach as a guiding principle for all of its programming work across all pillars. This is an approach that:

Entails non-judgmental listening, validation and empathy;
Seeks to reduce of self-blame and shame;
Provides information about the traumatic effects of violence; and
Ensures confidentiality, safety and security, respect, non-discrimination and non-stigmatisation.
In terms of service provision, Spotlight Initiative programmes worked with service providers to consistently apply a survivor-centred and trauma-informed approach to…

Designing to context: Spotlight Initiative adapted the pillar model to the needs and challenges of each specific country and regional context. In the early stages of programme design, teams conducted country-specific assessments to understand the unique challenges and then tailored interventions under the six pillars to that context. A strong emphasis was placed on using data and research to inform the interventions and ensure that programming and budgets were allocated based on the most pressing issues related to VAWG in each context. Programmes also identified local stakeholders to partner…