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In Uganda, Spotlight Initiative has supported the SASA! Together – a community mobilisation approach that supports communities to create positive and sustainable changes in the norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls. SASA! Together is a revised version of the original SASA! Approach, developed by the Ugandan NGO Raising Voices. New features of SASA! Together include a distinct focus on intimate partner violence, strategies that reach across the whole community, and more support for organisations and communities to sustain change.  The SASA! Together methodology focuses on…

Spotlight Initiative worked with UNFPA and the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT) to implement the Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Programme (CHAMP). This supported young people and adult caregivers across three regions of Trinidad and Tobago to address HIV prevention and challenge norms around peer pressure and early adolescent sexual activity.  Spotlight Initiative trained around 25 community leaders as ambassadors to facilitate dialogues across different levels of the community. Over 200 young people and caregivers participated in these…

The guide “I belong to me” was written and illustrated by African women from different backgrounds and parts of the continent in Spotlight Initiative's Africa Regional Programme (first phase). It was designed to promote discussion between African parents and their pre-adolescent children around African culture and Harmful Practices, such as Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage. It follows the story of an 11-year old girl called Saleema who travels to different cities across the continent where the main African policies on girls and women’s rights have been adapted, in order for her to…

In a male-dominated political landscape, it can be especially challenging for women with disabilities to enter politics. In Zimbabwe, Spotlight Initiative identified low participation of persons with disabilities - especially women - in political processes or political leadership.

In response, Spotlight Initiative implemented a training programme to educate women and girls with disabilities about their human rights, how to engage in policy and law-making and how to advocate for and access legal and gender-based violence services if needed. In partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability…

The Safe Space Mentorship Program (SSMP) in Malawi paired the establishment of safe spaces with mentorship programming. This programme supports girls and young women to report instances of violence and access resources and services. It also promotes gender equitable social norms, attitudes and behavioural change at community and individual levels. Focused on girls and young women from 10 to 24 years old, SSMP is a weekly 6-month programme that addresses gender perspectives, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices (HP), referral pathways…

In Liberia, Spotlight Initiative developed partnerships with nearly 450 traditional leaders to shift community perceptions and practices surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM). In Liberia, approximately 83% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM, according to the 2020 Demographic and Health Survey.“We have started to respect and value our wives, women and girls, treating them with love and care.” - Chief Wilfred Gahr, Co-Chairman for Administration of the Traditional Council of Chiefs and Elders of LiberiaBy leveraging the influence and authority of traditional leaders…

Spotlight Initiative in Honduras supported the ‘Cure Violence’ model – a transformative approach aimed at reshaping social norms to address femicide and violence against women and girls. Honduras has the highest femicide rate in Latin America at 4.3 cases per 100,000 women in 2024, with a culture of impunity where most of these crimes go unpunished. This UNICEF-supported initiative mobilised communities to change social norms in areas affected by gang violence and trafficking. It used ‘violence interrupters’ to lead community dialogues and efforts to identify and prevent instances of violence…

Spotlight Initiative's Latin America Regional Programme supported eight national surveys, conducting 9,600 interviews across Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. These surveys provided data on social perceptions of violence against women and girls and femicide. The results showed that verbal abuse and femicide were perceived as the most commonly occurring forms of violence against women and girls, while control over women’s lives was perceived as more acceptable than other forms of violence against women and girls. The survey findings and…

In Malawi, Spotlight Initiative commissioned an evidence review to inform programme and activity design, as well as identify knowledge gaps to inform the programme's research agenda. This research looked across and synthesised peer-reviewed and grey literature on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Harmful Practices (HP) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Malawi, including their causes and drivers. This revealed that drivers included religion, culture and educational attainment. Some of the extrinsic motivations, which came through this research process, included law…

Spotlight Initiative in Haiti supported the Determinants of Violence Against Women and Girls study, which highlighted the political and economic sociocultural factors (values, religious beliefs, attitudes and behaviours) that instigate or support violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence. The results of this study  informed the “Pathways for a Prevention” strategy, the national violence against women and girls prevention model and the national education programme for the elimination of domestic violence against women and girls.Read the Haiti Final Cumulative Report.