Learning #1: Encouraging active governmental participation in the design process and governance of a country’s programme to combat violence against women and girls strengthens the implementation and prioritisation of its actions.

Learning #2: Establishing partnerships between government actors and with civil society organisations assures the continuity of ending violence against women and girls initiatives and expands the reach to the most marginalised.

Learning #3: Ensuring budget lines and funds are in place demonstrates high-level political commitment and action.

Learning #1: Community support can help to transform social and cultural norms that maintain gender inequalities or discrimination in efforts to end violence against women and girls.

Learning #2: Leveraging the credibility of existing leaders, celebrities and people in positions of power shifts narratives and can support more equitable practices.

Learning #3: Models that leverage modern tools in communications, technology and media amplify behavioural change messaging with greater speed and reach to broader audiences.

Learning #1: Ensuring policies have action plans with identified costs and resources leads to better implementation of efforts to end child marriage.

Learning #2: Connecting with and leveraging the influence of traditional religious leaders and community leaders helps to spread awareness and encourage the abolition of child marriage.

Learning #3: Shifting social norms in communities through raising awareness of reporting mechanisms helps to end the harmful practice.

Learning #4: Using creative communication techniques helps to raise the visibility of child marriage and other harmful practices and promote a call to action to stop it.

Learning #1: Ensuring national laws, policies and plans integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights supports sustained attention to the issue.

Learning #2: Leveraging formal and informal education systems to mainstream sexual and reproductive health and rights information, particularly with youth, can mitigate violence against women and girls and provide important information to safeguard health.

Leaning #3: Strengthening knowledge of and access to services and one-top centres supports women’s and girls’ safety and stronger health outcomes.

Learning #4: Building the power and agency of women and girls leads to stronger sexual health and boundaries and a sense of self-assurance that trickles over to other areas of their lives.

Lesson #5: Ensuring HIV and AIDS awareness and de-stigmatization is part of sexual and reproductive health and rights and ending violence against women and girls work supports stronger health and life outcomes for women and girls.

Learning #1: Developing out-of-school community-focused initiatives that enable creative self-expression, mentoring and peer-to-peer learning can result in improved social norms and behaviours toward sexual and gender-based violence at the individual, household and community levels.

Learning #2: Partnering with schools and educational institutions is an effective way to reduce, prevent and monitor instances of sexual and gender-based violence and ensure wider policy buy-in with local and national governments.

Learning #3: Using digital and virtual channels is necessary to engage youth, especially girls, in problem-solving and awareness generation activities to change their socio-normative perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards sexual and gender-based violence.

Learning #4: Youth-led advocacy initiatives addressing sexual and gender-based violence bring the required innovative approaches, energy and perspective to create meaningful and sustainable change for young people.

Learning #1: Engaging leaders and role models in the community is a powerful mechanism for changing social norms around toxic masculinities and gender-based violence.

Learning #2: Creating peer opportunities for men and boys to have healthy, respectful and equitable relationships.

Learning #3: Targeting schools as sites to roll out comprehensive and wide-reaching awareness raising activities on masculinities and violence against women and girls.

Learning #4: Engaging in creative ways to raise awareness, such as media, theatre or campaigns, helps to increase the visibility of anti-violence messages.

Learning #1: Building religious, traditional and faith-based leaders’ capacity to be agents of change and shift social norms.

Learning #2: Working together to establish by-laws and pass legislation can help ensure the enforcement of legislation and the engagement of religious, traditional and faith-based leaders in wider efforts to end gender-based violence.

Learning #3: Working with religious networks and coalitions through a regional approach can have a far reaching impact and provide sustainable solutions that extend beyond a project timeline.

Learning #1: Increasing the visibility and awareness of violence against women and girls can strengthen leadership and political buy-in to address violence in the workplace.           

Learning #2: Developing strong policies and ensuring workers have access to support mechanisms is critical to transform internal practices in the private sector.

Learning #3: Developing trust and building multi-sectoral partnerships, including with non-traditional actors, is essential to success in working with the private sector.

Learning #4: Processes that help companies demonstrate their commitment and improve their practices toward greater equality can be expanded and scaled up through benchmarking and institutional change initiatives.

Learning #1: Establishing safe environments and increasing access to essential services can support reductions in violence against women and girls.

Learning #2: Working together through partnerships can improve safe conditions and reduce violence against women and girls for vulnerable women and girls.

Learning #3: Increasing knowledge and capacities on violence against women and girls can lead to effective frameworks that can reduce harmful practices.

Learning #1: Direct support and emergency services reaching large numbers of women and girls in emergency situations, such as COVID-19 and other disasters, are often best delivered by local grassroots organisations.

Learning #2: Virtual innovations allowed services for women and girls to remain uninterrupted with wider reach.

Learning #3: New partnerships and flexible funding models helped achieve intended outcomes in light of changing circumstances.

Learning #4: Responses to COVID-19 mobilised women’s movements and brought national attention to violence against women and girls.

Learning #1: Implementing a strong context, gender and power analysis, in addition to drawing on past evidence and learnings, yields more effective results.

Learning #2: Integrating concepts and tools which are aligned with the local culture supports more relevant programming and the potential for deeper resonance.

Learning #3: Conduct a multi-stakeholder partnership mapping, including of UN agencies, governments and civil society, to reduce duplication and ensure coordinated efforts to end violence against women and girls.

Learning #1: Improved coordination across UN agencies and implementing organisations contributes to improved efficiency and effectiveness to end violence against women and girls.

Learning #2: Regional collaborations can result in strengthened programmes, better use of resources and the advancement of regional protocols.

Learning #3: Simplifying procedures can improve efficiency and minimise duplication.

Learning #4: The UN Resident Coordinators’ oversight elevates the importance of ending violence against women and girls at the local and national level.

Learning #1: Building systems and standardised processes that are owned by national stakeholders, including governments and civil society organisations and duty-bearers, ensures longer term sustainability.

Learning #2: Developing exit strategies and funding sustainability in advance of programme closure supports the continuation of programme activities after initial seed funding.

Learning #3: Ensuring that tracking mechanisms are put in place to support fundraising and showcase the effectiveness of interventions.