In this special about Gender Equity & Health Hilary Standing tries to answer the question how to monitor the gender impact of health sector reforms in the context of the wave or reforms in low and middle income countries, some of which were driven by multilateral and bilateral donors. The set of indicators for gender equity and health represent a concerted effort of leading experts in women's health, yet further work is necessary to reflect diversity since some indicators are strongly slanted toward Western notions of health and functioning. Different approaches to the development of gender health indicators taking into account the often conflicting needs of the range and variety of different users are discussed. Faten Ben Abdelaziz seeks to describe the process of reaching consensus for a gender-sensitive set of leading health indicators between and within multi-level stakeholders from various cultural, social and economic conditions. With a report of comparative evaluation of indicators that are in use, or proposed for use, by leading international organizations to assess their adequacy for the purpose of monitoring key issues related to gender, equity and health. Gender-sensitive health indicators can provide a rigorous information base for policy actions that can improve health outcomes and reduce unjust health inequites resulting from the social construction of gender. With the object of helping to strengthen national capacity to integrate a gender perspective into the production, analysis, and use of health indicators, the Gender, Ethnicity, and Health Unit of the Pan American health Organization has prepared a proposal to guide that process. With an examination of some of the ways gender-based analysis can be applied to health surveillance systems and to the development of gender-sensitive health indicators. As part of the development of a women's health profile for the province Manitoba in Canada, Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence also conducted a field test of the WHO Kobe Centre gender-sensitive core set of leading health indicators.