UNDP

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

United Nations Development Programme

Item ID
{DC000C48-27F8-4DFC-BD1A-D720793693FE}
UNAgency ID
{27E4F1FE-4067-4808-A931-D1276B17BBFB}
Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP works with countries to build their own solutions to global and national development challenges and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. UNDP helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively and encourages the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women in all its activities. UNDP chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict.

URL

http://www.undp.org/

Mail Address

One United Nations Plaza. New York, NY 10017 USA

Areas of Work

UNDP’s role is to contribute strategically and catalytically to growing national ability to promote equality and capability of all citizens. All UNDP program personnel, working in every focus area, are obliged to mainstream GBV considerations into their work because it has major implications for the successful attainment of the MDGs, and is a component of the fight against gender discrimination, an endeavor which cuts across all UNDP activity. UNDP focuses on all types of violence against women, including vulnerabilities arising out of trafficking in women and children, HIV/AIDS, disaster, conflict and post-conflict situations.

Agency Type
UN Agencies
Title
United Nations Development Programme
Icon
UNDP

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

UNDP has organized a series of trainings on gender and GBV for local government officials including police and judiciary, CSOs, and survivors.

In Azerbaijan, UNDP trained local women-activists to provide rapid psychosocial support, safety plans, case management and referrals to assist GBV survivors of all genders.

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

UNDP has implemented various actions to improve access to justice for women who suffered violence especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The Tunisian office supported coordination between the designated emergency “hotline” and specialized police units responding to alerts of domestic violence and provided the specialized units with adequate protection gear and training.

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

UNDP implemented various activities for raising awareness and advocacy to prevent VAWG at both national and local level throughout the year. Through massive events, sessions and campaigns held in cooperation with national authorities and civil societies around the world, thousands of participants were provided with information on types of violence, prevention measures, as well as current laws and state programmes to prevent domestic violence.

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

UNDP is supporting national government to develop policies, strategies and action plans on gender mainstreaming. In Kyrgyzstan, under the Spotlight initiative, UNDP assisted the Ministry of Justice within legal inventory process to conduct gender expertise of prioritized laws in the area of SGBV and GEWE, including the key legal acts concerning domestic violence and ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men.

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

UNDP is working closely with national partners to support their legislative development to address gender-based violence, and to support national capacities on access to justice and protection through multi-sectoral support and services.

In Myanmar, UNDP and UN Women have made headways in linking legal aid services to women in villages and IDP camps. UNDP supported with technical inputs for the Prevention of violence against women Bill (PoVAW).

Feb 2020 - Sep 2021 | UNDP

No estás Sola or "You are not alone" in English is an intervention of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) and UNDP, with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation that was born in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to generate synergies between the public and private sectors, through the strengthening of a community sensitized and committed to the prevention of violence against women, gender equality and positive masculinities.

Subscribe to UNDP