| Summary: | This how-to note provides guiding principles and practical strategies for integrating Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) prevention and response into sectoral World Bank projects. The note addresses the increasing demand for clear guidance on how to practically address VAWG prevention and response in World Bank Group (WBG) sectoral projects in which VAWG is not a specific programmatic component. Specifically, it draws on existing VAWG-related guidance to provide proactive entry points for preventing and/or responding to VAWG. However, this note does not focus on the actions to mitigate and respond to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and Sexual Harassment (SH) involved in major civil works. The process to screen projects and formulate SEA/SH mitigating actions is spelled out in the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework guidelines and related guidance notes. The WBG provides financing to a broad range of sectors that can be leveraged to address VAWG prevention and response gaps and change harmful gender norms that lead to VAWG in different settings, such as in the legal framework, national and sectoral policies, institutions, communities, and beneficiaries. The WBG's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity demand no less than the women's full and equal participation. Reducing violence against women will help expand women's agency, their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities, which is key to improving women's lives as well as the lives of their children and future generations
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