Press Release

EU-UN flagship Spotlight Initiative to be launched for Central Asia and Afghanistan

08 December 2020

On 8 December 2020, at 3 pm (Nur-Sultan time) the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan will be officially launched and bring together dignitaries and senior leadership of the European Union and the United Nations, governments of Central Asia and Afghanistan and envoys of women’s movements to give a start to the programme designed to deliver on gender equality commitments. The Initiative is the EU-funded programme with an initial budget of more than USD 4.3 million for Central Asia and Afghanistan.

In Central Asia and Afghanistan, the ultimate goal of the Spotlight Programme is to create an environment where there is zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, which the national stakeholders and around 35 million women and girls in the five Central Asian countries and Afghanistan will contribute to and benefit from.

Spotlight Initiative is the world’s largest dedicated effort to end all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030, implemented as a global multi-year partnership between the EU and the UN. The Spotlight Initiative is currently on the ground in more than 25 countries and regions across the globe. Each Spotlight Initiative country and regional programme is tailor-made to address specific legislative and policy gaps, strengthen institutions, promote gender-equitable attitudes, provide quality services for survivors and empower women’s movements, leaving no one behind.

Through the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan we are determined to enrich one of the most comprehensive global policy frameworks for the rights of women, known as Beijing Declaration and the Platform of Action, with innovative approaches and modalities, collective expertise and accumulated knowledge for the benefit of most vulnerable groups.