Book excerpt: This Quick Guide is part of the Gender Management System (GMS) resource kit, a series of publications presenting GMS. GMS is an innovative system developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat for gender mainstreaming. The system is a comprehensive network of structures, mechanisms and processes for bringing a gender perspective to bear on all government policies, plans, programmes and projects. The kit consists of a handbook which presents the GMS in detail; sectoral guides to gender mainstreaming in specific sectors; and resource documents to assist the user in gender analysis, monitoring, evaluation and other aspects of gender mainstreaming. Each sectoral guide also has a corresponding Quick Guide - a short, user-friendly publication presenting the essential points. It is designed for policy-makers, planners, field staff and other government personnel involved in gender mainstreaming, as well as for academic users, NGOs, the private sector and others who have a stake in advancing gender equality and equity.