The workshop provided an overview of the concept of social expenditure and presents the ESCWA framework of Social Expenditure Monitor (SEM). The discussions focused on its usefulness and application to potential budget and policy reforms in the context of improving allocative efficiency and effectiveness of budgeting toward achieving the SDGs. In the workshop sessions, discussions around relevance of budget data for the SEM, mapping dimensions and indicators of SEM into national budgets, identifying challenges and possibilities of filling data gaps took place. In addition, feedback from participants on tailoring and implementing the SEM in each national context was provided.