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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.
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.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
UNODC’s policy framework for addressing violence against women is contained in the following documents: (i) General Assembly resolution “Crime prevention and criminal justice measures to eliminate violence against women” (52/86); (ii) General Assembly resolution 48/104 (adopting the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women); (iii) General Assembly resolution 65/228 (adopting the Updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice;(iv) General Assembly resolution 65/229 (adopting United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules)); (v) Economic and Social Council resolution “Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime” (2005/20), which is pertinent to girls; (vi) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; and General Assembly resolutions on taking action against gender-related killing of women and girls (A/Res/68/191 and A/Res/70/176).
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated to assist Member States In their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development draws together the strands of peace, the rule of law, human rights, development and equality into a comprehensive and forward-looking framework. Reducing conflict, crime, violence, discrimination, and ensuring inclusion and good governance, are key elements of people’s well-being and essential for securing sustainable development. UNODC helps Member States to strengthen legislative, judicial and health systems to better safeguard their populations, especially the most vulnerable groups. Its work on preventing and addressing violence against women and promoting access to justice is part of its mandate to strengthen the rule of law through the prevention of crime and the promotion of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems in line with the UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.
Please refer to this webpage which has the full list of UNODC tools and resources: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prison-reform/cpcj-tools-gender.html
United Nations Headquarters. DC1 Building. Room 613. One United Nations Plaza. New York, NY 10017. USA
UNODC works to prevent and address violence against women and human trafficking , as well as to develop policies in support of women victims of violence, and women in prisons. UNODC integrates gender dimensions and the question of violence against women into its efforts to build the capacity of criminal justice systems. UNODC also assists Member States in addressing specific vulnerabilities of women and children who fall into the hands of smugglers.
UNODC offers assistance in strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice system responses to violence against women. Such responses include more efficient laws and policies and enhanced capacity of criminal justice systems to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish related crimes, to provide access to justice and legal aid and to assist and protect victims and witnesses. UNODC provides legal and policy advice, training and capacity building to Member States upon request.
The Office supports and undertakes research related to trafficking in persons, including on the nature of trafficking and national and regional responses to trafficking. UNODC implements technical assistance projects, produces and disseminates public service announcements to counter trafficking in persons, and conducts outreach activities.
Further, UNODC manages the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, that enables the provision of protection, humanitarian and legal assistance to victims of this crime, in particular women and girls who have been sexually exploited. Assistance is provided through a careful selection of projects implemented by specialized, grassroots NGOs worldwide.
In Myanmar, UNODC strengthened the capacity of the police to provide survivor-centered responses, effective investigation and inter-agency coordination among the criminal justice system to better respond to gender-based violence. The Office supported the Union Attorney General’s Office in the prosecution of cases involving violence against women and children through a training curriculum and accompanying materials piloted at two initial trainings of trainers.
In Kyrgyzstan, UNODC supported a female police mentoring programme focusing on crime and gender-based violence prevention.
In Viet Nam, UNODC trained 140 criminal justice officers and legal aid professionals on providing legal assistance for survivors of violence against women and girls.
IN Mexico, UNODC continued its training programme on violence against women for police officers and emergency call operators in 26 states, reaching 7,500 professionals.
UNODC, Gender-related killing of women and girls (2018). The study gives an overview of the scope of gender-related killing of women and girls within and outside the family sphere.
UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2018). The report shows that most of the victims detected across the world are females; mainly adult women, but also increasingly girls. Conflict situations create increased vulnerabilities for women and girls to become trafficking victims.
UNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking. In the framework of the UNODC Education for Justice Initiative, the Office raised awareness on trafficking in persons through education, working closely with youth and academics to look into key concepts of trafficking and how this affects in particular women and girls, and how education can contribute to crime prevention and promotion of legality and justice. This includes dedicated modules and resources on gender and organized crime, including trafficking in persons.
UNODC organized an Expert Group Meeting on interlinkages of trafficking in persons with marriage, including forced, child, temporary and sham marriages, bringing together international experts in the field for the development of a UNODC issue paper on these issues (to be published in mid 2019.
In Uzbekistan, UNODC supported the Government in the development of a draft law on the prevention of domestic violence. In Egypt, UNODC is supporting the Government to develop fair and effective procedures to deal with cases of violence against women and girls, and thus to ensure a victim-centred approach as well as a fair and just prosecution of perpetrators.
UNODC participated in a consultation meeting for a General Recommendation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration in Geneva in December 2018. UNODC will be closely involved in the development of the General Recommendation, including a keynote statement during CEDAW’s 72nd session in Geneva in February 2019.
Mandated by a UN Security Council resolution, UNODC has developed a “Thematic paper on countering trafficking in persons in conflict situations” (to be published in the first half of 2018). In this context, it organized an expert group meeting at its headquarters in Vienna on 20 and 21 September 2017.