Spotlight Initiative's 2021 Pacific Regional Programme Highlights

Recipient UN organizations:

UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF, IOM

Other partners: The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), The Pacific Community (SPC); National Legislatures, Ministries of

Women, Health, Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tonga, RMI (Republic of Marshall Islands) Ministry of

Health and Human Services, RMI Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs, University of Melbourne, Nossal Institute, Fiji Broadcasting

Corporation, and over 50 international, national, local, and grassroots civil society organizations (CSOs).

 

Context

In 2021, the regional Pacific Spotlight Initiative continued implementation in a very complex environment, grappling with compounding

impacts of disasters from previous years and additional challenges. These include social and political unrest, fractured regionalism, rising

food insecurity and increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened all risk factors for VAWG,

including unemployment and increased poverty which further exacerbates gender inequality and patriarchal social norms.

Spotlight Initiative’s Response

The programme recorded a number of significant results in 2021 and made significant strides strengthening women’s movement through new partnerships with grassroots women’s rights organizations, gaining political momentum in development and roll out of comprehensive sexuality education that is based on international best practices, as well regional mobilization of diverse stakeholders to roll out multisectoral standardized data systems for GBV data collection. The Spotlight Initiative actively participated in the Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster (PHPC), to coordinate humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery including issues on gender-based violence, psychosocial support, and gender and social inclusion mainstreaming. In 2021 it supported several emergency responses, as well as political unrest in Solomon Islands, by providing technical support to national protection coordination mechanisms.

Key Results can be read by downloading the full Highlights Document.