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Engage with sectoral ministries to end VAWG

Engage with sectoral ministries to end VAWG

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) affects all sectors of society and impacts on outcomes across multiple areas including health, education, social welfare, security and economic development among others. At the same time, government bodies and ministries that work in different sectors have a vital role to play in preventing and responding to VAWG given their role in service provision and their reach across population groups. Working collaboratively can amplify the reach, effectiveness and sustainability of VAWG programmes and is, therefore, important for working at scale. Thus, in order to ensure a comprehensive approach to end VAWG, it is important to develop a coordinated, multi-sectoral approach involving several public sector ministries and not only with the ministry - usually the gender ministry - with the primary mandate to address VAWG. This requires working with different ministries to build an understanding of VAWG and the commitment, capacity and resources to address it in their work.

Guiding Principles
  • Survivor-Centred Approach
  • Do no harm approach
  • Leave No One Behind, Equity and Non-Discrimination
  • Transformative approach
Spotlight Initiative

Approach and Learning

Spotlight Initiative has made progress in bringing the elimination of violence against women and girls to the forefront of national government agendas by adopting a whole-of-government approach. Key strategies and learning include:

  • Programmes have directly engaged with the highest level of government, such as Heads of State, Ministers, and entities in charge of national development and planning, to secure political buy-in for ending VAWG to be a strategic national priority.
  • Supporting cross-government coordination mechanisms on EVAWG: Spotlight Initiative programmes have helped government to establish or strengthen cross-government coordination mechanisms on ending VAWG - both at the national and local government levels. This has been a key approach to integrate work to address VAWG in other key sectors, such as the education and justice sectors.
  • Partnering directly with different government ministries. Spotlight Initiative has partnered directly with different sectoral ministries to implement EVAWG work. For example, in Vanuatu, Spotlight Initiative engaged the Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Youth and Ministry of Health under a multi-stakeholder framework to roll out a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum to shift harmful norms around gender equality and violence (see case study below from Vanuatu). In Guyana, Spotlight Initiative is supporting the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Police Force to deliver a training course in GBV response to the entire police force.
  • Including sectoral ministry representatives in Spotlight Initiative governance mechanisms. In some cases, representatives from different ministries, in partnership with UN Resident Coordinators, co-chair National Steering Committees. Including different ministry representatives in this governance structure has helped to foster collaboration and coherence between government partners and UN Country Teams.
  • Working to strengthen capacities of different government institutions to work on VAWG. Spotlight Initiative programmes have also worked with public sector ministries through targeted work on strengthening institutions (Pillar 2). This Pillar focuses on building capacity and fostering change within institutions and their staff members to understand and address gender inequality, including VAWG, in their work.
  • Strengthening mechanisms for the implementation of laws and policies (Pillar 1): In 2022, Spotlight Initiative trained over 1,400 government officials - including in Argentina, Honduras, Liberia and Nigeria - in human rights standards, with many then actively participating in the development of laws and policies to advance human rights. Read more on working to develop national EVAWG plans and policies and on supporting legislative reform.
  • Building capacity on gender-responsive budgeting to ensure increased budget for ending VAWG at national and local government levels and across ministries. In 2022, Spotlight Initiative programmes worked with public sector ministries in 14 countries in 2022 to prioritise gender-responsive budgeting-related activities, including in Guyana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. (see case study below on Timor-Leste).
  • Improving data collection systems (Pillar 5): Spotlight Initiative has also partnered with national statistics offices to improve national data on VAW. In Grenada, Spotlight Initiative worked with the Central Statistics Office, the National Data Centre of Grenada and other key stakeholders in the public sector to develop an online data system on VAWG. Read more on how to improve VAWG data.

Top Tips

How to engage with public sector ministries – top tips based on wider learning in the sector.

Click a tip for more information.
Identify allies and champions within sectoral ministries
Build institutional capacity to address and respond to VAWG
Support sectoral ministries to change from within
Increase funding for EVAWG through supporting gender-responsive budgeting
Support coordination between ministries