About

The Spotlight Initiative Learning Centre is an online resource platform which is aimed at individuals and organisations that are designing, implementing and managing comprehensive programmes to end violence against women and girls (VAWG).

It builds on experience and learning from Spotlight Initiative as well as wider evidence and practice in the field. It is designed to provide practical, actionable support whether you are just starting out or addressing a specific programming issue.

Please watch this video for a full walk through on how to use and get the most from this Learning Centre.

The Learning Centre has been designed to allow users to access and navigate resources in a variety of ways depending on their needs.

Seven modules (top navigation menu): We have created seven modules of learning resources to support you with different areas of programme development and management. You can click on the top menu to access any module at any time and see what resources it contains.

• Programme design and implementation: This module takes you through a number of resources that will support you through the earliest stages of conception and design of a comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable  programme to end VAWG, through to setting up governance mechanisms, and ensuring high quality implementation. 
• Effective partnerships: This module supports you to plan and establish equitable and effective partnerships with multiple stakeholders at national, local and community levels, who all have an important role in the successful delivery of your programme.
• Laws, policies and institutions: This module supports you to design specific programme activities to support the strengthening and reform of the laws, policies and institutions that are critical to provide an enabling environment to end VAWG.
• VAWG prevention: This module provides resources to help you to design innovative and evidence-based interventions to address the factors that drive different forms of VAWG and therefore reduce the prevalence of VAWG.
• VAWG response: This module supports you to design programmes to improve the availability, accessibility and quality of various response services to meet the needs for healthcare, justice, emotional and economic support for survivors of VAWG.
• Women's movements: This module recognises the fundamental role that women's organisations and movements play in ending VAWG and contains resources to help you to work effectively with and in support of their efforts.
• Data, evidence and learning: This module provides resources to help you to improve and use VAWG data and design effective approaches to monitor and evaluate your programme to assess its impacts and promote learning.

Guided journeys: We have developed a series of guided journeys to help you to navigate the learning resources on this platform. Each guided journey is structured as a series of reflection questions that links you step-by-step to different resource pages to support you to develop that aspect of your VAWG programme. Read more.

Advanced search: You can also use our advanced search functionality to search directly for specific resources, filtered by country, stakeholder and resource type or through a keyword search.

This Learning Centre was developed in close collaboration with the Spotlight Initiative Secretariat led by a team at Social Development Direct in the UK. The content was created based on a review of hundreds of Spotlight Initiative documents and consultations with Spotlight Initiative programme staff and partners, as well as a review of wider evidence and learning from the wider field of actors working to end VAWG. The design and development of the web-based platform was undertaken by Woodgate Consulting in the UK, and Gizra, based in the US.

Throughout the development process, the teams were guided by a User Reference Group of 15+ Spotlight Initiative programme and partner staff from over 12 Spotlight Initiative country and regional programmes. Members of this group as well as staff in the Spotlight Initiative Secretariat reviewed all the content and provided valuable inputs on the design and usability of the site. 

If you have any suggestions or queries with respect to the materials on this website or would like to send us any resources you think could be added and referenced, please send an email to: amy.bretherton@un.org