OHCHR

Spotlight Initiative Logo
Address/Websites

220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017

About Measure

Background

Launched in 2017 with an initial investment of over 500 million USD from the European Union, Spotlight Initiative is the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Impact Initiative to end violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Recognized as one of the 12 High-Impact Initiatives – driving progress across the sustainable development goals – Spotlight Initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to address violence against women and girls at scale.

During its first phase (2017- 2023), Spotlight Initiative helped cohere the UN system to implement 34 programmes across five regions. This included two civil society grant-making programmes – established in collaboration with the UN Trust to End Violence against Women and the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund – which helped channel additional resources directly to civil society. By fostering a “One UN” approach under the leadership of the Resident Coordinators at the country level, Spotlight Initiative has leveraged various UN agencies’ complementary expertise, deepened collaboration, and streamlined operational processes, allowing for stronger programme delivery and better results for women and girls.

Through its deep partnerships at country and regional level – including with governments, civil society, faith-based and traditional leaders, academic institutions, media, the private sector, and others – Spotlight Initiative drove significant progress across response and prevention efforts. A strong commitment to meaningful engagement with civil society in particular, including local and grassroots organisations and feminist and women’s rights groups, has been central to the Initiative’s approach, as well. Under its first phase, nearly half of the Initiative’s activity funds were channeled directly to civil society, ensuring local ownership, buy-in, and sustainability of the Initiative's investments. At the global level, the Initiative forged a range of strategic partnerships, including with the Group of Friends, a coalition of 93 UN Member States advocating to end violence against women and girls, and the UN Foundation, which helped launch the WithHer Fund to channel more funding directly to local organizations.

Through its comprehensive approach – working to pass progressive laws and policies, strengthen institutions, deepen prevention programming, improve access to services, and generate data, and by centering partnerships – particularly with civil society – the Initiative has been shown to be 70% to 90% more effective at reducing the prevalence of violence against women and girls than siloed, single-pillar approaches. By aligning its interventions with national and local priorities, Spotlight Initiative works to deepen capacity, political will, and long-term commitment to ending violence against women and girls and advancing gender equality and women’s rights.

Areas of Focus

Unique to the Initiative is a whole-of-society approach that places ending violence against women and girls at the heart of national development priorities and gives local communities the tools they need to address violence in their specific context. The model works to support the development and revision of gender responsive laws and policies; strengthen institutions and data collection on VAWG; promote gender-equitable attitudes and positive social norms, and provide quality services for survivors of violence and their families.  It does this work in partnerships with government and, critically, with civil society and women’s movements at every level, enhancing civic space and driving sustainable, transformative change.

Resources

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Item ID
{D66C04C4-0811-4856-AB0B-771D2A64446D}
UNAgency ID
{93310904-AE33-4D02-81AA-F06317BE02D3}
Policy Framework

See gender-related resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly, Security Council and Human Rights Council, and relevant subsidiary bodies. 

Background

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), guided by the mandate provided by General Assembly resolution 48/141, OHCHR represents the world’s commitment to the promotion, protection and realization of the full range of rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

OHCHR has a central role in safeguarding the integrity of the three pillars of the United Nations: peace and security, human rights and development. For 2024-2027, the Office has maintained its six thematic pillars on which its work stands, which are (1) Support to the United Nations human rights system; (2) Mainstreaming human rights within the United Nations other pillars, namely development and (3) peace and security; (4) Advancing the core human rights principles of non-discrimination, (5) accountability, (6) participation. OHCHR has identified six strategic directions, namely: 

  • Rebuilding trust and reinvigorating a global movement for human rights. 
  • Fostering inclusion and equality through a diversity approach. 
  • Enhancing early warning and advancing the global protection agenda. 
  • Promoting a human rights economy to realize rights and address inequalities. 
  • Promoting rights-based climate and environmental action. 
  • Using digital technologies and data to advance human rights. 

All areas have a strong focus on women’s human rights and gender issues, including in line with OHCHR internal policies on gender equality and the Secretary General System Wide Strategy on Gender Parity. 

 
Institutionally, OHCHR is committed to strengthening the United Nations human rights programme and to providing it with the highest quality support, by working closely with its United Nations partners to ensure that human rights are at the center of the work of the United Nations. 

Resources

For recent resources, visit: https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/gender-based-violence-against-women-and-girls  

URL

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/Home.aspx

Mail Address

Palais Wilson. 52 rue des Pâquis. CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Areas of Work

The mission of OHCHR is to work for the protection and promotion of all human rights for all people; to help empower people to realize their rights; and to assist those responsible for upholding such rights in ensuring that they are implemented. The Office carries out its mission with respect to gender-based violence within the overarching strategies to ensure country engagement, leadership, partnership, and support and strengthening of the Office and the human rights machinery. 

OHCHR’s unique added value in addressing gender-based violence as a UN entity lies in its monitoring mandate, enabling it to identify trends, structural causes, and consequences through case investigations and public reporting. It plays a central role in the international human rights system by supporting UN human rights mechanisms (Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures, and Universal Periodic Review) in developing recommendations and advocating for justice. With its human rights-based and survivor-centred approach, OHCHR promotes a holistic protection framework, ensuring victims’ access to services, gender-responsive accountability, and strengthened states’ capacities. OHCHR situates gender-based violence within broader gender inequalities and systemic discrimination, emphasizing the intersectionality of multiple forms of oppression that exacerbate violence and hinder access to justice. Its convening power facilitates global, regional, and national dialogues, fostering survivor participation and advancing substantive equality, prevention, and gender-transformative measures, including reparations. 

OHCHR supports the Human Rights Council, UN investigative bodies, special procedures, and human rights treaty bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. 

Agency Type
SECRETARIAT
Title
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Icon
OHCHR

Oct 2010 - Feb 2011 | OHCHR

The OHCHR Country Office in Mexico has completed the first stage of validation of the indicators on violence against women, involving several stakeholders. The OHCHR supported the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences to conduct three country visits, namely to Algeria (1-10 November), Zambia (6-11 December) and the United States (24 January-8 February 2011). The OHCHR supported the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women in attending the civil society regional consultation for the Asia-Pacific region (January 2011).

Oct 2010 - Feb 2011 | UNICEF;
OHCHR

In October 2010, UNICEF, the OHCHR and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, supported by the Government of Sweden, organized a panel discussion on the promotion of better data and research to inform child-sensitive and effective laws, policies and action, where UNICEF presented the results of its forthcoming report on Child Disciplinary Practices at Home.

Oct 2008 - Feb 2009 | OHCHR

OHCHR finalized a study on the current jurisprudence relating to the prosecution of rape, both under international humanitarian law and human rights law, entitled “Prosecution of Rape under the Formal Justice Mechanisms”. This and another expert paper on “Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” were launched in December 2008, in Geneva, with the participation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. A case study, “The Bosnian Experience”, which analyzes the experience of women victims of violence accessing justice in a post-conflict society was prepared.

Mar 2012 - Jan 2013 | OHCHR

OHCHR published a Guide on indicators for human rights which integrates indicators and methodological tools in relation to violence against women; and supported fact-finding missions to Mali and Commissions of Inquiry on Syria which, inter alia, look into violence against women including sexual violence.

Jul 2007 - Jan 2008 | OHCHR

In September 2007, OHCHR organized a seminar on women and torture, for United Nations and civil society representatives, with the aim of providing input for the thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture, on strengthening the protection of women from torture (A/HRC/7/3), to be presented to Human Rights Council at its seventh session. The report is aimed at ensuring that the torture protection framework is applied in a gender-inclusive manner.

Jul 2007 | OHCHR

OHCHR commissions and conducts research and analysis on access to justice for victims of sexual violence, clarifies and draws attention to this issue, and develops materials to assist the development of policy and advocacy strategies. One of the mechanisms for so doing is through the development of legal analyses, guidelines and principles based on human rights, which address issues of critical importance for women.
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