Launched in 2017 with a seed funding commitment of €500 million, the Spotlight Initiative is an EU-UN partnership that represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Spotlight Initiative is responding to all forms of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on domestic and family violence, sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, femicide, trafficking in human beings and sexual and economic (labour) exploitation. The Spotlight Initiative is deploying targeted, large-scale investments to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific in more than 25 countries.
As a demonstration fund for action on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Initiative demonstrates that a significant, concerted and comprehensive investment in ending violence against women can make a transformative difference in the lives of women and girls. This is the world’s largest targeted investment to end violence against women and girls.
Resources:
Spotlight Initiative Terms of Reference (2017-2023)
Spotlight Initiative Background Note
Spotlight Initiative Annual Report 2017
Spotlight Initiative Annual Report 2018
Spotlight Initiative Early Results Report –November 2019