UN Volunteers foster gender rights for girls in Malawi
Malawi is one of the eight countries implementing the multi-year partnership programme between the European Union and the United Nations focusing on gender-based violence prevention and management, dubbed the Spotlight Initiative (SI). The Spotlight Initiative aims to accelerate the elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful cultural practices (HP) in communities of Malawi. The initiative focuses on addressing the structural root causes of VAWG and their linkages to sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR).
In Malawi, the Spotlight Initiative (SI) was rolled out in 2019 and is being implemented jointly by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women in six districts: Nkhata Bay, Mzimba, Dowa, Ntchisi, Machinga and Nsanje.