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In December 2021, Spotlight Initiative launched the WithHer Fund in partnership with the UN Foundation to provide flexible financial support to smaller, local, grassroots and WROs working to end violence against women and girls in their communities.
The fund operates under feminist grant-making principles, focusing on flexibility, trust and transparency. To overcome common funding barriers faced by small organisations, the WithHer Fund uses a simplified application and reporting process.
The first cohort of WithHer Fund grantees was chosen based on specific criteria, including the…
The Spotlight Initiative programme in Tajikistan offered creative training and mentorship to various WROs and other CSOs through a simulation exercise. This exercise involved CSOs participating in a workshop where their proposals were evaluated by Recipient UN Organisations (RUNOs). A mock evaluation committee then provided feedback on the proposals.
As a result of participating in this training exercise, WROs had an improved understanding of Spotlight Initiative processes and requirements, which resulted in an increased number of proposal submissions from WROs in Tajikistan to the Central…
For the Spotlight Initiative, planning for programme sustainability involves a collaborative effort among multiple stakeholders to outline key steps and conditions to move from where a programme currently stands, towards a locally and nationally/regionally owned vision for ending VAWG. In 2022, a plenary session was held during the Spotlight Initiative’s Global Learning Symposium to exchange promising approaches and lessons on fostering national ownership and sustaining gains of ending VAWG programme through multi-stakeholder engagement. Key lessons were captured by stakeholder type:
Natio…
Spotlight Initiative programmes strengthened existing, or created new, institutional mechanisms to foster coherent multi-sectoral approaches to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. Nearly half of Spotlight Initiative programmes – including in Afghanistan, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe – either established or strengthened multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms. In each case, coordination was established at the highest level, and the process included identifying relevant stakeholders, working with a clear mandate and governance structure…
In 2023, Spotlight Initiative Secretariat, in collaboration with regional and country programmes, hosted a SHINE online discussion on the theme ‘Sustaining the impact of the Spotlight Initiative: essential services for survivors of violence’. This discussion was open to Spotlight Initiative programmes and partners, including the United Nations, civil society, governments, European Union delegations, and other stakeholders engaged in ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) efforts to exchange approaches and tools related to the maintenance of essential services.
A key highlight from…
The Timor-Leste country programme document is a comprehensive 162-page report laying out the strategy for Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste. It contains the following:
Situational analysis on violence against women and girls in Timor-Leste, highlighting key statistics, challenges and the need for targeted interventions under each of the six pillars.
Programme strategies and a Theory of Change which outlines a comprehensive approach to implementation of interventions across the six Pillars/Outcome Areas. It includes a description of the Results Chain, the scale and scope of the work to…
Spotlight Initiative represents a unique case of large-scale, ambitious investment in ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). It has moved beyond fragmented project-based funding of VAWG prevention and response towards a more systemic strategy. Spotlight Initiative was launched in over 25 countries with substantial seed investment of €500 million from the European Union, signifying an unprecedented commitment to end VAWG.
Central to its approach is the financing and participation of civil society and grassroots organisations, ensuring that the increased investment reaches those…
In Malawi, Spotlight Initiative aimed to increase collaboration and efficiency between UN agencies by establishing a shared office space known as ‘The Spotlight House’. All core team activities occurred in this office, promoting close inter-agency collaboration, reducing miscommunication and enhancing cost savings.
The Spotlight House also became a visible symbol in the community with nearby signposts showing the Spotlight Initiative logo and donor banner. This increased recognition of the initiative as a joint EU-UN effort within local communities.
The success of co-location prompted…
The Kitgum District local government in Uganda has developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide the provision of GBV services by partners in the region. The document describes the roles, responsibilities, guiding principles, and procedures for prevention of and response to any form of GBV by service area, namely medical, psychosocial, safety and security, and legal support.
The SOPs take a survivor-centred and multi-sectoral approach, focusing on joint coordination to ease accessibility of referral services for GBV survivors in the post-conflict setting. Featuring guiding…
The Gender-Based Violence Constant Companion Pocket Guide, developed by the Spotlight Initiative Belize programme contains basic tools for field practitioners to know what to do in case a GBV incident is disclosed to them, specifically:
How to support a survivor of gender-based violence, including Do’s and Don’ts of responding to a disclosure
Who discloses their experience of GBV, accompanied by a safe and ethical response to disclosure flowchart
Location-specific contact details for the local GBV focal point and advice on what to do in contexts where there is no GBV actor available
Th…