In 2010, 20 partner organizations and 12 gender consultants from 12 different countries were trained in MSC to kick-off the experiment with the methodology. After the workshop, participants were asked to start using the methodology. This meant collecting stories, selecting the most significant change story and providing feedback about the selection process to the story collector. One year after the training session, participants met again to discuss their experiences with the methodology. They discussed the advantages and challenges of using the methodology for monitoring gender mainstreaming. In early 2012, Oxfam Novib, three partner organizations and one gender consultant from Bangladesh undertook a second round of story collection and selection to gain deeper knowledge of the usefulness of the methodology for the monitoring and evaluation of GMLT. In the meantime, the significant change stories that were collected in the first year of the experiment were used for a secondary analysis. The different activities made it possible to collect information on the usefulness of MSC to make intangible, cultural change visible and to learn about gender equality. The challenges that hindered MSC implementation were documented carefully to get a realistic understanding of the usefulness of the methodology. Both opportunities and challenges are reflected in this publication. The three steps of story collection, selection and secondary analysis proved to be particularly useful to make cultural change visible and encourage learning. To illustrate the usefulness of the methodology to make cultural change visible, this publication uses examples from these three activities.
The Measuring Milestones Initiative was made possible through the expertise of Gender at Work and the financial and technical support of Oxfam Novib and PSO, a Dutch organization that focuses on reinforcing civil society organisations in developing countries through capacity building.