Phase 4: Put your Strategy into action Communicate the strategy and put it into action By this stage, you and others across the NHRI have invested significant time and effort into developing a robust, focused and integrated Gender Strategy. The next challenge is ensuring the Strategy is actively used, implemented and monitored – not filed away and forgotten. Embedding the Gender Strategy across the NHRI is critical. Gender equality cannot sit as a separate or optional area of work. It must become part of the NHRI’s systems, structures, culture, decision-making and everyday practice. 4 ACTION YOUR STRATEGY A stand-alone Gender Strategy that is disconnected from organisational planning and operations can quickly lose momentum when leadership, priorities or funding change. In contrast, when gender equality is embedded across the organisation, the NHRI: • Models the change it promotes externally • S  trengthens its own policies, systems and practices so they do not reinforce gender inequality or discrimination • Builds credibility and trust with rights-holders and stakeholders • Improves the quality and impact of its human rights work • Is more likely to achieve sustainable, long-term change. This final phase focuses on integration and implementation. It is about ensuring that staff, leadership and key external stakeholders understand the Strategy, know how it will be implemented, and are clear about their roles and responsibilities. The next step is to translate the Strategy into operational action. This Toolkit does not cover operational planning in detail, as each NHRI will already have its own planning and reporting systems. These may include business plans, operational plans, work plans or performance plans. Below are some of the steps your NHRI may take once the Strategy is finalised and ready to be embedded across the organisation. Gender Strategy Toolkit 2026 61