With the aim of ending all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030, the European Union and the United Nations have been collaborating since 2017 to empower, promote, and protect the rights of women and girls worldwide. The Spotlight Initiative is a EUR 500 million programme that deploys targeted, large-scale investments in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific.

 

Policy support, Response and Services, Empowering Civil Society, Preventing Violence are key components of the initiative. Women aged 15-49 years old accounting for 62% have experienced sexual and physical violence. In Sierra leone the sportlight initiative is a 15 Million Euro fianancing partnership agreement signed by the Minister of Finance of Sierra Leone and the European Union from 2026-2028 aimed at combating sexual gender-based violaance and hamful practices against women and girls.

 

Network AID Africa being a public relation of Community Of Practice on Violence Aganist Women & Girls (COP-VAWG) comprises of 100+ organisations established currently in 7 districts. In contributing to the UN-Women Sierra Leone component of the sportlight initiative, COP-VAWG and the 50-50 Group was engaged in an information sharing meeting called by UN-Women Sierra Leone to deliver on Outcome D "Women's rights movement and civil society organisations (CSO) are strengthened and more effectively influence and advance progress on ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) and harmful practices (HP)". that feed to the overall impact of "ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS, PARTICULARLY THOSE MOST VULNERABLE, LIVE A LIFE FREE OF VIOLENCE AND HARMFUL PRACTICES"