Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I find on SHINE?

On this hub, you will find spaces to learn about, discuss and collaborate on key issues related to ending violence against women and girls, in the spaces described below and in the language of your choice.

Communities of practice

Spaces have been set up for discussion and knowledge sharing on key issues related to ending violence against women and girls (such as prevention; service delivery for survivors; and policies, laws and action plans). Join the communities of interest to you and network with experts through moderated discussions and knowledge sharing. Gain a feeling of solidarity by connecting with others around the world on shared issues and experiences.

On each community of practice page, you will be able to:

  • join related groups
  • find relevant resources and updates
  • engage in online discussions on the topic in question.

To make sure you are informed when a new resource or discussion is available in a SHINE community of practice, follow the tag (for example, follow the ‘Prevention’ tag to be notified of any update on that topic).

Groups

As some organizations focus on specific topics or particular approaches to preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls, you may find it useful to join a groups or groups to engage with users working in a similar context and through similar entry points.

Discussions

SHINE facilitates time-bound, specific discussions on key issues related to ending violence against women to collaborate on, co-create and amplify knowledge across networks. For example, users may want to engage in further in-depth discussion about the recommendations outlined in a knowledge product on preventing violence against women and girls. Use discussions to share your thoughts and experiences on the topic and to make your voice heard by contributing to knowledge products in development.

Share your key questions or challenges relating to programming, policy or advocacy issues, and SHINE can facilitate a discussion to seek answers and advice from the global ending violence against women community. For example, how are you adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic? Could you use some suggestions?

Resources

Access a selection of curated resources, guidance and tools from the Spotlight Initiative, the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and their partners. There is a particular focus on knowledge products in development or being tested through co-creation with practitioners, for exciting new insights.

Events

Be the first to know about upcoming SHINE and partner events, including webinars, learning sessions and convenings. In this space, you can also promote your own event related to ending violence against women and girls.

Who can join and take part in SHINE?

SHINE is open to the global community working to end violence against women and girls, including but not limited to: United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, government, academics, researchers, practitioners.

There are three access levels on SHINE:

  • Key partner. SHINE is open to all key partners of the Spotlight Initiative and/or the UN Trust Fund (past and present). Our networks include United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, governmental partners, academics, researchers, practitioners and others. Initially, partners will be welcomed by an email inviting them to join the platform. With the link provided in the email, you can automatically sign in, create a password and add your information. Partners may be invited to access all pages on SHINE or specific private spaces and communities of practice.
  • Public. All public content is accessible to external audiences. Anonymous, unregistered users are able to access all public spaces on SHINE. Some spaces are visible to registered users only. Anonymous users cannot join discussions or groups without first creating an account.
  • Invitation only. Private groups are visible and accessible only to group members. Only participants who have been invited to join such groups (whether partners or members of external audiences) can access them. We sometimes invite our partners to special discussions to create a cooperative and safe space in which actors in the field in question can engage with one another. Where this is the case, this will be specified in the invitation.

 

How can I join a community of practice?

If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one here. Make sure to add as much information as you can so that people with related interests can contact you – the country you are working in or your area of expertise, for instance. If you already have an account, check out the list of communities of practice here.

What are the communities of practice on ending violence against women and girls?

Communities of practice are pages dedicated to a specific area of work in ending violence against women and girls (such as preventing violence against women and girls). To join a community of practice and make sure that you will be informed of updates, please follow the related tag. You can also use tags to find specific resources in the Resource Library.

Groups within communities of practice allow practitioners working in similar settings to share their experiences, and they enable actors working in various contexts on similar issues to learn from each other.

Within groups, users will find discussions on related subtopics (for example ‘Engaging faith-based and traditional actors to prevent violence against women and girls’ in the prevention community of practice).

Why should I join SHINE?

Imagine joining a dynamic global community to end violence against women and girls.

What if you could learn from leading experts and connect with other changemakers around the world to create real, sustainable impact?

SHINE aims to enable you to do just that.

Join the community, learn from others and share your experiences so that we can collectively increase our knowledge and advocate for and influence effective programming and policies on ending violence against women and girls.

By inviting a range of stakeholders to join discussions, we hope to build bridges between donors, practitioners and researchers, and to facilitate research using practitioner-based knowledge.

Where can I find the list of communities of practice?

You can check out the list of communities of practice here. Note that new communities of practice will continue to be created.

Don’t forget to explore all the communities of practice, groups, discussions, and resources! Feel free to reach out to us to promote events, as well, and find out about future events related to ending violence against women and girl here

How do I get in touch with a site and/or content manager if I have a question or comment?

Depending on what your question or comment relates to, feel free to contact those below and we will be happy to help.

  • If you have a question or comment related to a group or topic of discussion, you can find the contact information of the moderators in the ‘Information’ section of the group/discussion and send them a message with your question or comment.
  • If you have a question or comment related to the website, you can contact the site managers directly via this platform here.
  • If you have a question or comment for the Spotlight Initiative, you can contact the Global Secretariat here, or email Heran Ayele (heran.ayele@un.org) or Rand Jarallah (rand.jarallah@un.org)
  • If you have a question or comment for the UN Trust Fund, you can contact the team by email at untf-evaw@unwomen.org.