To track effectively, you need the insight and expertise of more than one person or institution. This page offers guidance on how to form a tracking team and steering committee. 

1. Form the team. 

For optimal tracking, the team should include people with the following skills and knowledge: 

• Familiarity with government accounting mechanisms 
• In-depth knowledge about the national health system and health policies 
• Specific knowledge about actors in the family planning program 
• Experience with advocacy 
• Experience with using data and information generated by different entities within the health system 
• Ability with numbers and willingness to question numbers 
• Willingness to look for and consider alternatives to known data sources.

2. Form the steering committee.

To support the tracking team, consider forming a steering committee to provide overall technical guidance. For many countries, the contraceptive security committee will be a natural choice. The steering committee should do the following:

• Provide technical guidance for the tracking activity and ensure that it aligns with other activities.
• Ensure an adequate budget for tracking activities.
• Open doors for data collection.
• Be a conduit for disseminating the results of the tracking effort and for subsequent advocacy efforts, as appropriate.   

3. Decide which commodities to track.

From the beginning, the team needs to be clear about which commodities to track. You can use the template Defining the Commodities You Want to Track as an initial guide if you are tracking contraceptives. The list can be expanded/modified to include additional reproductive health commodities as determined by the tracking committee. For other health commodity groups, develop a specific commodity list with the tracking team.