GBV LEARNING PROJECT.Since the crisis, there have been numerous discussions and streams of work that are looking at how can Oxfam be more effective at safeguarding. It has been evident that effective safeguarding also requires an enabling environment andculture where VAWG or other abuse is not normalized, is not acceptable and everyone feels empowered to call it out and stop such violence andabuse when it happens. As the conversations have evolved, the idea of safe(r) programming has also come up. An initial simple definition was - Safer programming is about enabling safe participation in programmes. Essentially it is about ensuring women and girls (and others) avoid facing any (or more) violence because of their participation in development programmes. This approach overlaps with our GJ programming on EVAW but it is meant to be applicable across all our programmes. Further, it has a strong element of prevention rather than redressal- so preventing women facing violence and not just redressing any violence that happens. In theory, safer programming is a clear and logical aspect of our commitment to safeguarding and protection. If we want to ensure that women and girls(and other vulnerable identities) are safe from violence and abuse in communitieswhere we and our partners work, we need to mitigate risks of such violence through preventive actions within the communities as well as improved protection and safeguarding from external actors. However, what does safer programming look like, what strategies do we adopt, what actions are practical and effective, how do we measure impact and how do we resource these actions in any programme. These are practical questions that need answers if we are to translate our commitment into practice. As an organisation, the notion of #safer# programmes where we address issues of risk of VAW for women and girls in communities due to participation in programmes is relatively new. On the other hand, the recent meta analysis of our programmes has raised the real possibility of increased VAWG due to our actions on women#s empowerment. There havebeen some programmes that have addressed the issue in response to enabling women#s participation but by and large, it is not something we have done systematically.