[{"bbox": [97, 165, 1134, 220], "category": "Text", "text": "The programme seeks to establish and strengthen a multi-stakeholders' partnership inclusive of duty bearers and civil society organisations engaged in VAWG prevention and response at national, district, and community level."}, {"bbox": [97, 229, 1134, 418], "category": "Text", "text": "Amongst the most critical national stakeholders: the Ministry of Gender and Children's Affairs (leading Executive's action on VAWG), Ministry of Social Welfare and Ministry of Health and Sanitation (providing respectively, psychosocial support and medical services for survivors), Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (implementing a radical education policy inclusive of SRHRs and VAWG commitments), Sierra Leone Police (notably the Family Support Unit), Ministry of Justice (notably the SGBV Special Courts) the Law Reform Commission (mandated to support legal review) and the Ministries in charge of Finance and Planning and Economic Development for their critical role in setting budgetary and national development planning priorities."}, {"bbox": [97, 428, 1134, 537], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will also seek to build knowledge and capacities of the Parliament of Sierra Leone and the Human Rights Commission, notably to support review of legislation on ending VAWG in line with international Human Rights' standards. Sierra Leone Statistics and targeted Ministries capacity to collect and analyse VAWG/HP data will also be strengthened to inform evidence-based decision and policy making and reporting."}, {"bbox": [97, 547, 1134, 629], "category": "Text", "text": "As local needs require local solutions, the action will seek to promote capacity development and collaborative approaches at district and community levels; bringing together central level institutions, District Councils, traditional leaders (paramount chiefs and community/religious leaders) and civil society."}, {"bbox": [97, 639, 1134, 774], "category": "Text", "text": "As evidence shows the significant need to address cultural norms entrenched in society, the action will target specifically paramount chiefs (the custodians of customary land), community leaders (parents, guardians, teachers, religious and community leaders) as well as the media (both traditional and social). The action will also seek to inform parenting skills around gender socialisation through early childhood development programmes, and target specifically the Soweis (the FGM practitioners) to introduce alternative initiation rituals."}, {"bbox": [97, 784, 1134, 867], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will also seek to engage the private sector to promote gender equality in the workplace and employment support for survivors; and collaborate with legal aid providers and the Correctional Services to ensure rights of women in conflict with the law - a particularly vulnerably group- are upheld."}, {"bbox": [97, 876, 762, 904], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**A central role for civil society, supported by significant investments:**"}, {"bbox": [97, 914, 1134, 1395], "category": "Text", "text": "For decades, women's rights groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) have demanded that the States addresses violence against women and girls as a pervasive rights violation. Evidence from other Spotlight Initiatives Programmes shows that the presence of vibrant, autonomous, progressive movements – including specifically feminist and women's rights movements – is essential (and in fact a key determinant) to generating sustainable change. Thus the Spotlight Initiative has placed civil society at the center of its efforts to end violence, engaging civil society groups in decision-making, programming, and implementation. Diverse civil society experts will sit on Spotlight's governance mechanisms (with a membership of 20% in the national steering committee) and constitute \"self-selected\" reference groups to guide and advise implementation, advocate for the realisation of its commitments and monitor its work to hold the Initiative accountable. The action also features a fully dedicated outcome to support civil society and movements in their work to end violence against women and girls. To do that, civil society needs sustained quality resourcing, and a significant part of the overall budget is allocated – in line with Spotlight Initiative best practices, to protect and expand civil society's role in ending violence: 50% of the programme activities' budget to be delivered by CSOs across all outcome areas (with the vast majority channeled to local and grassroots organisations), and 10% of the overall budget dedicated to the specific outcome focused on CSOs/Women Movement strengthening. Support to CSOs will include the design of calls for proposal and subgrant mechanisms as well as capacity building initiatives tailored made to meet the needs of grass-root organizations and provide them with enhanced financial and institutional capacity to fight VAW/HP. Beneficiaries will be identified based on CSOs mapping studies."}, {"bbox": [1027, 1681, 1143, 1707], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 10 of 35"}]