Strategy Paper 35 Feedback mechanisms: Establish feedback mechanisms with the stakeholders to provide input on findings and recommendations and use feedback to refine objectives, indicators, and strategies continuously. Capacity building: Need for capacity development of stakeholders on gender analysis, data collection methods, and monitoring practices. There is need for toolkits and guides to support effective implementation of the GMF. Implementation steps: • Planning and preparation: Assess the current gender landscape, identifying key issues and gaps and establish a baseline. • Developing the framework: Involve stakeholders in the development process to ensure the framework reflects diverse perspectives. The framework should be a comprehensive document that outlines goals, indicators, data collection methods, and reporting processes. • Pilot testing: Test the framework in selected programmes or regions to identify challenges and areas for improvement and if needed, make necessary adjustments. • Full implementation: Implement the GMF across relevant programmes and policies, ensuring adequate resources are allocated. It should regularly collect and analyse data to track progress and identify emerging issues. • Evaluation and review: Conduct comprehensive evaluations of the GMF to assess its effectiveness and relevance periodically. Based on evaluation findings, update the framework to adapt to changing contexts and priorities. Challenges in monitoring of gender equality: It might be important to consider potential challenges when planning the introduction of systematic gender-equality monitoring, to work towards overcoming these to build a strong gender-equality monitoring system: • In many contexts, gender-disaggregated data may not be available or collected in a gender-sensitive manner. • Institutional resistance or lack of political commitment may hamper gender-equality initiatives within institutions. • Gender-equality monitoring initiatives often struggle with limited resources, impacting their implementation. • Many organisations may lack the technical expertise required for effective gender analysis. • Gender issues are intertwined with other social factors; thus an intersectional approach is recommended, including dimensions such as ethnicity, class/caste, age, or geography. • Gender roles and norms can change over time, requiring continuous adaptation of monitoring approaches. Best practices for effective gender-equality monitoring: Use of digital tools(online) to leverage technology for data collection and analysis, such as mobile surveys and data management software.