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Spotlight Initiative has adopted a range of strategies across its country and regional programmes to anticipate, minimise and mitigate backlash and resistance in its programming. Key approaches and learnings include:

Conduct training and awareness raising to reduce the risk of backlash and resistance to EVAWG programming. In Uganda, Spotlight Initiative trained members of the Domestic Violence Coalition and Members of Parliament on how to understand and address backlash. In Argentina, the Spotlight Initiative developed evidence-based materials for families, teachers, clubs, journalists and…

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…

There are several key principles which have guided Spotlight Initiative's approach to research on VAWG:

Ensure ethical data collection. The safety of women and girl participants should always be prioritised. This requires anonymising data, ensuring secure data storage, developing strong data-sharing protocols, and ensuring all those involved in the data collection, processing and dissemination process are trained on ethical research principles and survivor-centred approaches to research.
Use action-oriented feminist research approaches. This means that research should: focus on the…

A comprehensive theory of change: At the onset, Spotlight Initiative identified four key outcome areas that programming should work to strengthen in order to comprehensively address the root causes, drivers and consequences of VAWG:

A) Laws, policies and institutions (including data collection)
B) Prevention (including social norms change and women's economic empowerment)
C) Response (services for survivors and accountability of perpetrators)
D) Support to and partnership with women’s movements.

This theory of change provides a framework for stakeholders to select and adapt…

The Spotlight Initiative 2022 Global Annual Narrative Progress Report highlighted several cross-cutting lessons from the Spotlight Initiative’s experience of implementation:

A whole-of-society approach encourages collaboration among all stakeholder to collectively address violence against women and girls.
Engaging community structures and local authorities in community-centred approached promotes accountability, local ownership and long-term commitment, influencing positive shifts in attitudes and norms.
Strengthening skills across all grassroots movements, government, activists and…

The Governance structure of Spotlight Initiative and administrative responsibilities are outlined in the Fund Operations Manual Compendium and depicted below.

At the programme level, Spotlight Initiative programmes are governed by National and Regional Steering Committees. Steering Committees are context-specific and aligned with the priorities of each programme. They provide oversight and help facilitate coordination. For example, National Steering Committees engage in monitoring implementation, providing strategic advice and decision-making, and ensuring sustainability efforts are in…

A specific focus on marginalised women and girls: Spotlight Initiative’s overarching goal is to ensure that all women, especially those who are marginalised and vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices. This means programmes variously include a focus on women and girls with disabilities, indigenous people, migrant women and girls, ethnic minorities, those living in poverty, or any other historically marginalised group facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

Take action to implement the “leave no one behind” (LNOB) principle: Spotlight Initiative invests…

Key learning from Spotlight Initiative’s approaches to programme strategy development include:

The importance of conducting contextual research to inform the programme strategy: All Spotlight Initiative programmes were advised to conduct baseline studies to inform their monitoring framework / results reporting in the inception phase. In addition, Spotlight Initiative programmes in several countries and regions conducted additional research using various research methods to better understand the drivers of specific forms of violence, the national and specific local contexts, the existing…