This handbook aims to provide basic principles, guidelines and resources that will enable United Nations field presences to measure progress towards or regress away from peace consolidation. It may be seen as a first step towards establishing more formalized benchmarking systems to be used by United Nations field presences, including more specific formats and procedures for benchmarking organization, data collection and aggregation, reporting, and templates of benchmarks and indicators. Indeed, a number of United Nations departments and agencies have begun to develop indicators and benchmarks on a range of issues related to peace consolidation, including on the protection of civilians and on women, peace and security. The handbook is thus very much of an evolving document, with this first edition to be revised to reflect subsequent developments in policy and practice as well as comments and reviews from users.