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in Mozambique, Spotlight Initiative provided support to local organisations to improve community-based coalition and movement building. This support resulted in over 25 local civil society organisations and community-based organisations exchanging their experiences on best practices and challenges on sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence and child marriage. District platforms were created, in alignment with the country’s policy of decentralisation, to promote the human rights of women and girls. These platforms led to 285…

In 2021, Spotlight Initiative established the Pacific Feminist Community of Practice (PacFemCOP). This was moderated by DIVA for Equality in Fiji. It involved a co-creation process between 20 CSOs and around 80 activists from across the region. Through PacFemCOP, these activists were able to document feminist best practice from across the region, including topics such as feminist approaches to gender, ecological and climate justice; elimination of VAWG; how to mobilize, organize and action for change; feminist approaches to economic justice; SOGIESC; bodily autonomy and integrity; and sexual…

In Honduras, the Centre for Justice and International Law, in partnership with women’s rights organisations, civil society organisations and feminist organisations, worked tirelessly over five years to campaign for the passage of “La Esperanza Protocol”. This was published in December 2021 and is now recognised as the international standard for the investigation and response to threats and attacks against human rights defenders. Thanks to the work of WROs, the protocol includes a specific focus on the contribution of women human rights defenders to strengthening democracy. It also recognises…

In 2021, the Spotlight Initiative programme in Mozambique worked with local leaders to support them to prevent child marriage. They established provincial forums of traditional authorities in three provinces where 133 informal and formal decision-makers were engaged in dialogues on gender and VAWG. Overall, 1,038 community leaders took part in “reflection sessions” to discuss ways to prevent child marriage.

“Behaviour change takes time. With the support of the Government and Spotlight Initiative, we are leading several community-driven actions towards gender equality” - Community leader from…

Spotlight Initiative's Safe and Fair Programme, worked among ASEAN countries and engaged with employers’ organizations to improve the working conditions of women migrant workers. This included building the capacity of 1,003 employers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam to address the concerns of women migrant workers. A group vulnerable to exploitation, harassment and abuse. Spotlight Initiative partnered with the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) to develop policy briefs that made the business case for preventing violence and harassment at work and detailed…

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…

In Timor-Leste, the percentage of the national budget allocated to the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls was a point of concern, following a drastic funding reduction between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, 0.6 percent of the budget (10.4 million USD) was allocated to gender equality initiatives. This was reduced to a mere 0.1 percent of the budget (1.4 million USD) in 2020. Reductions in budget allocated to gender equality initiatives have adverse consequences that impede the protection of women’s rights and safety, as well as equitable access to education, healthcare…

In Liberia, the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) is 38.2% among women and girls aged 15-49 years old. FGM is usually performed by traditional birth attendants and/or ‘zoes’ who are elderly women believed to have mystical powers and are members of the ‘Sande’ group, an influential custodian of culture in Liberia. During the FGM initiation process, girls are also trained in 'bush schools’ to prepare them for married life and discussions of these processes are considered taboo in society. In addition to the cultural significance of the practice of FGM, there are also economic drivers…

Spotlight Initiative (led by UNICEF), in partnership with faith-based organisations (FBOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), launched the Parenting for Childhood Development (P4CD) programme in six provinces of Papua New Guinea. The P4CD consisted of a series of training workshops for parents and caregivers of children aged 3-10 years in the selected communities based on a curriculum adapted for the context. Spotlight Initiative reached over 23,000 people through this activity.Six modules were delivered over 6-12 weeks and covered the following topics: educating parents on children’s…