Spaces for public debate and democratic decision-making must be created to define national priorities, identify what is working well and where the gaps are, agree on pathways for transformative change and determine the roles and responsibilities of different actors. Women's rights organizations were extremely effective in building coalitions and alliances across different interest groups to put gender equality at the centre ofthe new agenda.9 Such participatory processes and strategic alliances are also needed to ensure effective and gender-responsive implementation, follow-up and review. Both chapters provide powerful evidence for the interlinkages between these gender equality targets and other parts of the 2030 Agenda, underlining the need to break down policy silos and move towards integrated strategies for implementation.