The Episcopal Relief & Development organization in Liberia implemented a three-year project entitled “Scaling Up Faith and Youth Leaders' Engagement to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Women and Girls in Liberia” from 2018 to 2022 with the support of the UN Trust Fund. This second phase project aimed to reduce instances of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence experienced by women and girls while enhancing their access to services. The final evaluation found that the project demonstrated the power of investing in faith leaders and youth in catalysing community change to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.

This independent, final evaluation presents the findings of the cluster evaluation of three small grant projects implemented between March 2017 and February 2020 and funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women:1. “Improving Access to Life With No Violence for Women Survivors in Central and Northern Montenegro”, implemented by SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence, Niksic;2. “Empowering Survivors of Domestic Violence in the Tetovo Region”, implemented by Women’s Forum–Tetovo in Montenegro; and3. “Actively and Publicly Combating Discrimination – Gender Based Violence”, implemented by the Center for Girls in Serbia. The final evaluation found that the empowerment and awareness-raising strategies implemented by the projects were effective, innovative and well adjusted to the target groups.

The project “Engaging Faith-Based Organizations to Prevent Violence against Women & Girls and Increase Survivors’ Access to Services”, implemented by Episcopal Relief and Development, was funded from January 2015 to December 2017 by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. The final evaluation found that local participation in faith-based activities – where awareness was raised about gender-based violence and available support services – resulted in significantly less violence against women and girls.