After a successful campaign in 2022, the Samoa Spotlight Initiative is back with bigger plans for its advocacy in ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) in Samoa.

The United Nations RCO Spotlight Coordinator, Aterina Samasoni said that the National Reference Group (NRG) for Samoa Spotlight convened Monday to reflect on their commitments to the program to EVAWG. This is demonstrated from the day of their involvement in August 2020 until today.

The UNDP Spotlight Coordinator for Samoa, Louisa Apelu said that the meeting marked the beginning of their second phase of work for the program in Samoa.

“UNDP convened the first meeting for the spotlight CSO NRG today to kick off implementation of their nine months work plan. The NRG is made up of 10 expert members from different civil society sectors and bring in critical inputs of community members, women, and girls the spotlight initiative program aims to serve,” she said

“One of the key goals for meeting today was exploring the joint advocacy and knowledge-building initiatives to enhance and sustain influential cross-movement alliances on EVAWG. 

"The annual 16 days of Activism against Violence community conversation for example, to which the group has since its establishment has contributed too.”

The Initiative provides a model for partnership with donors, civil society, and all UN partners, to deliver on the SDGs in a manner leveraging comparative expertise. The initiative places Goal 5 at the centre of efforts to provide an enabling environment for the implementation of all goals.

Their meeting on Monday also welcomes Gutu Michel Faasau as the youngest member of the national reference group and the representative of the Men and Boys seat for the civil society organizations. 

“We welcomed Mr. Gutu Faasau as the new engaging men and boys representative to the group. Mr. Faasau strengthens the voice of young men in the oversight of the Spotlight to end violence against women and girls, to which the CSNRG is called for,” said Ms. Samasoni.

Mr Faasau is the youth champion who represented Samoa alongside the NRG and Government at the Spotlight Global Symposium in Mexico last year where he integrated well with the work of the Samoa program. He replaces his Dr Walter Vermeulen who was exceptional in bringing in the perspective of men in the seat under Phase 1 of the Spotlight Initiative.

This initiative is a joint global program by the EU and the UN to end violence against women and girls in Samoa.

“The Spotlight NRG is the most effective mechanism for facilitating meaningful engagement of CSOs into governance and decision-making processes and is a model to be replicated across all programs and projects," said Fagalima Tuatagaloa, co-Chair of the NRG.

Samoa has been identified as one of the focus countries in the Pacific where the Spotlight Initiative will deploy targeted, large-scale investments to reduce violence against women and girls and thereby improve their lives. The Spotlight Initiative in Samoa is coordinated by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office with UN Women as the Technical Lead Agency. Programming is implemented by UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNESCO.