This special issue of Participatory Learning and Action captures the experiences of Southern civil society organisations (CSOs) which are engaging in the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of poverty reduction strategy (PRS) processes. In many countries CSO engagement in this particular stage of these strategies is just beginning. There has been much reflection on engagement by CSOs in the formulation of PRSs, but much less written about how they are being monitored and implemented. With respect to monitoring and evaluation, this issue explores how CSOs are working towards the articulation and realisation of poor people’s rights and the accountability of governments and other powerful actors towards them. Authors for this issue came together at a workshop in July 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the contributions and to share their experiences in PRS processes.