Advanced Search

The design of Spotlight Initiative builds on over four decades of global commitments to end VAWG, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the​​​​​​ 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women - as well as key regional conventions such as the 1994 Convention of Belém do Pará in the Americas, the 2003 Maputo Protocol in Africa, and the 2011 Istanbul Convention in Europe. Spotlight Initiative programmes have aligned their work with the provisions of these frameworks using the following approaches:

The Spotlight…

In its Technical Guidance Note on the Four Pillars of Spotlight Initiative’s Theory of Change, Spotlight Initiative lays out how to gather sensitive and complex data, stating that this requires: (i) Using reliable, ethically-sound methodologies; (ii) Technical capacity to collect, analyse, use and disseminate VAWG and harmful practice prevalence data; and (iii) Considerable financial and human investments. Key approaches and learning about how to achieve this include:

Follow key global and local ethical guidelines for VAWG data collection. All Spotlight Initiative programmes follow ethical…

All Spotlight Initiative programmes were expected to conduct mid-term evaluations as well as final evaluations. In addition a number of global level and thematic assessments were conducted to identify learning and impact. Key approaches and learning included: 

Conducting mid-term assessments to promote lesson learning within programmes. Programmes were expected to conduct Mid-Term Assessments while a programme was ongoing. This was to support programmes to identify opportunities for improvement, consider lessons learned, and develop recommendations to inform the development of the next…

Spotlight Initiative uses a tailored monitoring and reporting online tool (SMART platform), which allows all Spotlight Initiative programme teams to report qualitative and quantitative data on indicators and sub-indicators. Key approaches and learning on designing indicators include:

Ensuring disaggregated reporting against indicators: Spotlight Initiative has aimed to ensure data disaggregation and reporting by income, sex, age, ethnicity, disability and geographic location at a minimum. Data disaggregation has also been pursued for other characteristics relevant in national contexts over…

Grounded in the recognition of women and girls as rights holders and change-makers in their communities, Spotlight Initiative is committed to implementing a participatory approach to programming, including in its monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities. Spotlight Initiative programmes have implemented participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME) in different ways.

Key approaches and learning include:

Engaging rights holders in monitoring work: Members of WROs, CSOs and direct beneficiaries were engaged to collect and analyse monitoring data on the progress of various projects…

Spotlight Initiative Pillar 5 (Data) focuses on improving data on VAWG. Key approaches and learning from this work include:

Establishing and strengthening national databases to track the prevalence of different forms of violence and harmful practices in line with global standards: Spotlight Initiative has also focused on producing validated and comparable VAWG data, in line with international standards. As part of this, Spotlight Initiative aims to improve data disaggregation by income, sex, age, ethnicity, disability and geographic location at a minimum, as part of its Leave No One Behind…

Improving the understanding, consolidation and use of VAWG data is a key element of Spotlight Initiative under Pillar 5 (Data), which focuses on improving the quality, accuracy, availability and application of VAWG data. Key approaches and learning include:

Undertaking mappings of existing VAWG data collection and management systems: In some countries, Spotlight Initiative programmes have undertaken an assessment of existing VAWG data and data management systems to identify good practices and gaps in order to provide guidance on how to understand, use and improve data for women and girls…

Spotlight Initiative has engaged in programme scale-up through a variety of methods:

Scaling up training to ensure it reaches more stakeholders. For example, in Uganda in 2021, Spotlight Initiative scaled-up training on gender-responsive budgeting to ensure it could reach more government officials. As a result, the initiative expanded from national to sub-national levels.
Extending the reach of VAWG prevention approaches by implementing them with additional components. For example, in 2021, Spotlight Initiative in Uganda applied the SASA! approach in refugee settlements to raise awareness…

Spotlight Initiative was designed to shift from isolated, project-based efforts to a comprehensive well-funded approach for addressing VAWG, which is aligned with national development priorities and works to accelerate progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

It also marks a significant step in UN reform, using a whole-system 'One UN' approach that leverages coordinated and coherent funding and places women and girls at the centre of its efforts.

As one of the first large-scale initiatives focused solely on eliminating VAWG, Spotlight Initiative serves as a demonstration…

Plan for sustainability from the onset: Spotlight Initiative programmes considered the sustainability of interventions from the onset. Key approaches have included: ensure high-level engagement of government throughout implementation; support key national level interventions such as national action plans, advocacy for GBV budgets, capacity development of national institutions, and meaningful engagement of civil society at all levels.

Sharing lessons on sustainability: To sustain Spotlight Initiative’s momentum and results, the Secretariat has been sharing lessons and promising practices of…