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The Spotlight Initiative is a global partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in support of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. It was launched in September 2017 by the UN Secretary-General and the EU High Representative and Vice President (HRVP). The 500 million Euro Initiative provides a model for partnerships with donors, civil society, and the UN to deliver on the SDGs in a comprehensive manner leveraging comparative expertise. SDG 5 and the achievement of gender equality are placed at the centre of efforts (alongside Goal 16) with the aim to provide an enabling environment for the implementation of all goals. Within the UN, the Initiative will operationalize the UN development system reforms and model a new way of delivering on the SDGs in an integrated way, leveraging collaborative advantages. Three Core Agencies: UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population (UNFPA) and UN Women) will work together with other UN agencies to make large-scale investments in priority countries.
The program seeks to strengthen laws and policies at national and sub-national levels as well as address the negative and pervasive socio-cultural norms that drive Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Harmful Practices (HP) and their inter-linkages with Sexual and Reproductive health Rights (SRHR) whilst entrenching transformative change. However, there are legal and legislative gaps which exist and engender long-standing negative socio-cultural norms due to conflicts between formal laws and customary laws/practices. It is therefore imperative that an assessment of conflicts between customary and formal laws within the scope of analyzing root causes of GBV through behavioral factors is conducted to provide solutions of how to address these gaps.
Under the supervision of the UN Women Spotlight Programme Specialist, an individual consultant will be engaged to conduct a study assessing customary laws and possible facilitators for gender equality and women’s empowerment, assess conflicts between customary and formal laws; analyze root causes of GBV through behavioral factors and how to address existing gaps.
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