Project profile — Spotlight+ Initiative: Promotion of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls

• Mali (100.00%)

• Population policy and administrative management:
Population policy and administrative management (13010) (20.00%)
Reproductive health care (13020) (30.00%)
Family planning (13030) (20.00%)
Personnel development for population and reproductive health (13081) (15.00%)
• Government And Civil Society, General: Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (15.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)

This project aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by combating sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the southern, northern and central regions of Mali, including Gao, Timbuktu, Mopti, Segou and Bamako regions. Specifically, it works to help to remove barriers that prevent access to comprehensive and quality sexual and reproductive health services, by strengthening women's and girls' capacities to provide strong leadership and decision-making power for their health, and by helping to change the attitudes and behaviours of leaders and communities in favour of respect for gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights. It targets more than 500,000 women and girls, 50 women's organizations in these regions and is expected to reach a total of 2,500,000 adolescents and youth.

The expected results for this project include: 1) increased access to holistic and quality support services by women and girls survivors of SGBV; 2) improved capacities of providers of obstetrical and neonatal care to offer quality services that take into account the rights and needs of women and girl; 3) improved access of adolescent girls to complete sexual and reproductive health services that take into account their rights and needs including family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases; 4) increased capacities of women and girls to provide a strong leadership and to participate in decision making related to their sexual and reproductive health and rights; and 5) improved attitudes and strengthened capacities of religious and traditional leaders, in particular of men's and boys in regards to the respect of gender equality and women and adolescent girls' sexual and reproductive rights.

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) developed a map of emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC) maternity units and their networking in ten regions of the country; (2) established two radio stations called "Radio Voix des femmes" in the Ségou and Mopti regions; (3) treated 155 women with obstetric fistula; (4) recruited and deployed 43 new midwives in the regions of Ségou, Mopti, Gao and Timbuktu to bring services closer to the population and strengthen the health system's resilience; (5) established and renovated four maternity units in humanitarian areas; and (6) setting up a One Stop Center and a women's center in humanitarian areas.

• Proactive disclosure