Advanced Search

The Spotlight Initiative Secretariat has fostered cross-regional and intraregional knowledge exchanges by organising in person convenings.The Global Learning Symposium (GLS), which took place in Mexico in 2022, drew over 200 participants from the United Nations, government, civil society and other stakeholders, and aimed to consolidate the gains made over the past five years of the Initiative. A total of 45 plenary and thematic sessions were organised, providing a space for deep reflection and sharing of results, lessons learned and best practices across contexts/As a follow-up to the Global…

In March 2022, Spotlight Initiative, through a partnership with the UN Trust Fund, created a multi-stakeholder online hub for global exchange called SHINE. SHINE Hub operates as a knowledge platform that brings together EVAWG practitioners, including government, civil society, the United Nations, the European Union and others for active engagement to end violence against women and girls, and in the co-creation of knowledge.The platform is accessible in more than 100 languages. It supports the creation, collaboration and amplification of knowledge and provides an online space to engage in…

In Uganda, following the delivery of capacity strengthening sessions with government stakeholders, host and refugee communities advocating for EVAWG and the safety of women, new commitments were made in Yumbe District, which had a high prevalence rate of teenage pregnancies. Local authorities advocated for police to adequately investigate and bring perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to justice. In Adjumani District, a GBV ordinance is being pushed for by district women councillors (women caucus) and has received support by the local chairperson.

Additionally, through ‘security talks’…

At the global level, Spotlight Initiative consolidates country-level information received into a central result-based management system called the SMART platform. This monitoring and reporting tool gathers performance data at the outcome and output levels, linking programme-related result indicators so evaluators can better measure the efficiency and effectiveness of Spotlight Initiative. Result indicators are specific to each country or regional programme. For outcomes, shared indicators are defined in the overall and regional result frameworks.Programme stakeholders are obligated to report…

Spotlight Initiative’s overarching goal in its Theory of Change (ToC) is to ensure that all women, especially those who are marginalised and vulnerable, live free from violence and harmful practices. Together with its partners, Spotlight Initiative aims to make concrete changes across multiple pillars to end VAWG. It is broadly understood that it is the synergies across these pillars that generates lasting impact. The specific theories of change for each outcome area are detailed here.  

Spotlight Initiative relies on a multi-tiered and multi-sector governance structure at the global and programme levels to make decisions and steer work toward its objective of ending violence against women and girls. From the onset, Spotlight Initiative established a clear governance architecture and administrative arrangement, with three core functions: governance by global and country decision-making bodies, daily management and administration supported by dedicated teams, and implementation by the Recipient UN Organisations (RUNOs).

“A key good practice agreed across all Reference…

For the Spotlight Initiative, planning for programme sustainability involves a collaborative effort among multiple stakeholders to outline key steps and conditions to move from where a programme currently stands, towards a locally and nationally/regionally owned vision for ending VAWG. In 2022, a plenary session was held during the Spotlight Initiative’s Global Learning Symposium to exchange promising approaches and lessons on fostering national ownership and sustaining gains of ending VAWG programme through multi-stakeholder engagement. Key lessons were captured by stakeholder type: 

Natio…

In 2023, Spotlight Initiative Secretariat, in collaboration with regional and country programmes, hosted a SHINE online discussion on the theme ‘Sustaining the impact of the Spotlight Initiative: essential services for survivors of violence’. This discussion was open to Spotlight Initiative programmes and partners, including the United Nations, civil society, governments, European Union delegations, and other stakeholders engaged in ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) efforts to exchange approaches and tools related to the maintenance of essential services.

A key highlight from…