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Spotlight Initiative acknowledges the central role of journalists and their contribution to public discourse as well as the potential of this group to change existing narratives so that they support upholding and advancing women’s rights and gender equality. Through the support of six Spotlight Initiative programmes in 2021, 134 news outlets now have peer-validated news and media standards on ethical and gender-sensitive reporting. They join more than 600 media houses engaged by Spotlight Initiative that have committed to better reporting on VAWG.
Eight Spotlight Initiative programmes also…
Spotlight Initiative engages in many strategic partnerships at the global level, including with advocates and influencers, to challenge gender stereotypes and raise awareness of EVAWG work. Global Advocates for Spotlight Initiative, including actor Cecilia Suarez and South African Springboks Rugby Captain Siya Kolisi, have used their social media channels and participation in interviews and at panel discussions to champion work by Spotlight Initiative. Find out more about Ceclia’s support and engagement here and Siya’s personal reflections here.
WithHer Fellowship
Through the #WithHer…
The Central Asia and Afghanistan Regional Programme partnered with TikTok to launch regional campaigns to address harmful social norms around violence. Based on the multi-stakeholder evidence collected, the Spotlight Initiative programme partnered with five social media influencers and produced 15 TikTok videos. These videos were widely disseminated with an estimated target audience of 200,000 social media users, likely contributing to heightened awareness of, and an improved understanding on, the issues of gendered violence, harassment, gender stereotypes and discrimination.
Additionally…
Spotlight Initiative has partnered extensively with the media and arts and culture organisations to heighten awareness of healthy gender norms and behaviours and increase knowledge about the rights of women and girls, especially at the community level.
In Malawi, for example, the programme collaborated with a private media company to raise awareness on eliminating VAWG. This included the promotion of positive masculinities through the HeforShe campaign across the six Spotlight Initiative programme districts in-country. Furthermore, to highlight the important role of activists during the 16…
Grantees of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women used core institutional funds for a variety of purposes which have contributed to the sustainability of WROs and CSOs, including:
Self-care and staff resilience: In Argentina, Fundación Andhes, an organisation that trains cis, trans and lesbian women to become legal advisors for survivors of violence, used its core funding to hire a psychologist to support staff responding to reports of violence. In Nigeria, the HACEY Health Initiative also engaged a therapist to support their staff. Staff in the HACEY Health Initiative reported…
During the design phase of the Spotlight Initiative Caribbean Regional Programme, it was noted that there was no formal network of CSOs and WROs working to end VAWG. To close this gap, all partners agreed that the region would benefit from establishing an umbrella regional network. To this end, the programme organised a CSO retreat that brought together representatives from ten Caribbean countries.
The inaugural Caribbean CSO retreat was facilitated by UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) - Caribbean. Held in Jamaica in August 2022, the week-long retreat provided an opportunity for 24 CSOs…
The Spotlight Initiative Pacific Regional Programme aims to support a diverse range of smaller CSOs through the small grants funding mechanism. The small grants, ranging from USD 2,500 to USD 50,000, have a simplified application process, with fewer steps than other funding mechanisms. As part of the small grants funding mechanism, the Pacific Regional Programme also had a special call for partners working to advance the safety of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI) and feminist climate justice as it relates to EVAWG.
To provide support to these newer…
To diversify the types of implementing partners selected, Spotlight Initiative in Malawi undertook several activities to address barriers to smaller grassroots organisations. The programme issued a joint call for expressions of interest and disseminated hard copies in local languages at the community level. The team worked closely with district authorities to share hard copies of the advert in their offices and allow organisations to submit hand-written applications through district offices, saving them postage costs. As a result of these targeted efforts to engage smaller CSOs, 95% of the 112…
Under Pillar 6, the Spotlight Initiative Pacific Regional Programme aims to support WROs through the small grants funding mechanism. The small grants, ranging from USD 2,500 to USD 50,000, have a simplified application process, with fewer steps than other funding mechanisms.
A series of virtual town halls were held to prepare potential applications and provide an overview of the requirements, guidelines in the development of proposals and budgets, and reporting and monitoring and evaluation requirements. Further support was provided via email or phone, with the aim of reducing any…
The Spotlight Initiative programme in Mozambique provided training and ongoing capacity development sessions for 50 WROs. The WROs were identified through a mapping of organisations and then invited to a 3-day training session in advocacy, influencing, programme design, monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management. Opportunities were provided in these sessions for networking and sharing experiences. Special attention was given to organisations representing the interests of marginalised groups, such as people living with HIV, people with disabilities and rural women. WROs received ongoing…