Meeting the Moment: What Works II hosts Annual Programme Meeting 2025 in Ethiopia

From 28 April - 1 May, we were delighted to host the What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale Annual Programme Meeting (APM) 2025 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, for an inspiring four days of collective strategising, expert-led sessions, insight sharing and exchange.

The What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale Programme (What Works II) is the UK’s flagship programme to end violence against women and girls. Over the APM we welcomed over 100 delegates from 25 countries spanning over 50 different partner organsiations across our unique network - from Somalia to Sri Lanka – participants  included Grantee Partners, FCDO, the Implementation and Research Consortium and our Independent Advisory Board (IAB).

The event explored the theme: ‘Meeting the Moment on our Journey to Scale’. Through a dynamic line-up of speakers and sessions we heard insights from colleagues on a range of topics including implementing research and Practice-Based Learning, the role of governments in scaling violence against women programmes, diversity, accessibility and inclusion, external engagement, accountability, building equitable research relationships and more.

The APM provided attendees with an opportunity to connect with and learn from our What Works II Grantee Partners who have been awarded grants to implement cutting-edge VAWG prevention projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and MENA. It also provided a crucial space for reflection and solidarity, and recognising the interconnectedness of our struggles for a violence-free world. Throughout the event attendees also explored how to best be inclusive and intersectional in generating new evidence to move the global VAWG prevention field forward.

Envisioning a safer future for women and girls

In the opening session delegates were welcomed by Anne Gathumbi, Programme Managing Director, and Alice Kerr-Wilson, Co-Lead of the Learning and Partnerships Team, who mapped the range of programme partners present, spanning 52 different organisations working together to prevent violence against women in girls around the world. 

An expert panel discussion followed, chaired by our IAB Co-Chair, Manisha Mehta, exploring the challenges facing their work and opportunities across different geographical contexts. We were delighted to welcome two Grantee Partners to the stage: Shirkat Gah Women Resource Centre, Pakistan and Soul City Institute, South Africa joined by IAB member Ghida Anani, ABAAD MENA, and Julienne Corboz, Social Development Direct, to share insights on navigating shrinking civic space, rollback on women's rights and resilience strategies.

Panellists shared how continued investment in women’s rights organisations, collaboration, empowering marginalised voices and staying resilient is key to our work. The panel also explored how we can best share learnings about what interventions and approaches are working already, and how as a programme we can continue to strengthen the global VAWG prevention field through the insights generated through our work and Grantee Partners.  

We were delighted to welcome Emily Esplen from the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to share a message of solidarity, outlining how in the current challenging global contexts, VAWG prevention work is now more important than ever.

Delegates also heard a fascinating session on adapting VAWG prevention programmes facilitated by programme colleagues as well as Grantee Partner speakers from Right To Play, Pakistan and CISP, Somalia. This was followed by networking and presentations from Grantees sharing learnings from their projects, funded by What Works, all who are working to build safer futures for women and girls.

The power of evidence

As a global leader in ending violence, a central aim of the What Works Programme is to contribute to the body of evidence in the VAWG prevention field. The insights, learnings and evidence from the What Works Programme are driving global impact around the world.

During her opening remarks from day two, Dr Mary Ellsberg, Director of the Research Consortium and Executive Director of the Global Women's Institute (GWI) at the George Washington University, outlined how as a programme we believe in the power of evidence to change policy and influence governments to prevent violence against women.

Dr Ellsberg shared how during Phase 1 of What Works, evaluated projects were demonstrated to have reduced violence by as much as 50% in 2-3 years. Under Phase 2 of What Works, our projects are demonstrating how this can go to scale. She also outlined the depth and scale of the research being done across the programme, spanning 60 studies over the next 7 years involving 18 different partners from 13 countries in the Research consortium.

A series of rich sessions took place throughout the day exploring: implementing research and Practice-Based Learning, cost effectiveness, ethical safeguards and introducing our new Research Capacity Strengthening Platform - a growing hub of free online resources designed to support researchers, implementing partners, and the global community working to end violence against women and girls.

During day two we heard how the What Works Programme presents not only an opportunity to deliver projects preventing violence, but to measure them with rigour. We heard about different research study designs, what they are and how to advance our work through research – and that generating rigorous evidence is more important than ever given the current context and rollback of women’s rights globally. Delegates also heard that research design is not static but an ongoing and collaborative process.

Working with governments

Working with governments to scale up and sustain VAWG prevention, diversity, accessibility, inclusion, and external engagement were all high on the agenda for day three of our APM. Throughout the day we looked externally at what we can do with our evidence and research, and how to use it for different spaces, in advocacy and with policymakers.

Governments have a very critical role to play in scaling up national violence against women and girls prevention efforts. Governments can make a huge difference for women and girls at risk of violence by increasing funding for local women’s rights organisations and investing in crucial VAWG prevention programmes.

We convened a prestigious panel discussion with Kalliopi Mingeirou, UN Women and Grantee Partners CEHAT/MASUM, CEDOVIP and WOLREC, to share their insights and learnings on working with governments to scale-up violence prevention programming, chaired by Dr Claudia García-Moreno from the World Health Organization.

Attendees then heard from Benedetta Musillo from FCDO, who shared the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office inclusion commitments for What Works and from Grantees on their experiences of mainstreaming inclusion into their projects, sharing key lessons learned.

Final reflections

The final day of our APM culminated in reflections and an energising session exploring the What Works Feminist Principles, applying an accountability lens to projects and research, and how as a programme we are first and foremost accountable to women and girls affected by violence in the Global South.

The What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale Programme aims to eliminate violence against women and girls in our lifetime. The unique expertise and impact of the programme were fully showcased at our APM, spanning grants and funding for VAWG prevention projects, technical assistance, evidence generation, research and advocacy.

As mentioned above, projects evaluated under Phase 1 of What Works reduced violence by as much as 50% in 2-3 years, showing that with investment, violence against women and girls is preventable. We therefore know ending violence against women and girls is possible and that women’s rights organisations have the expertise, knowledge and commitment to continue to make this a reality.

A key takeaway of the event was the pressing need for world leaders and governments to prioritise gender equality and international work on VAWG prevention, and to work closely with local women’s rights and women-led organisations – such as our incredible Grantee Partners – to continue to empower women and girls worldwide.

More information

• View the full Image Gallery

• Read more about our Feminist Principles

• Discover our Research Capacity Strengthening Platform

• Find out more about what our Grantee Partners are doing to prevent VAWG

• Explore our Evidence Hub