Monitoring: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
Monitoring (French: surveillance) means determining the status of a system, process or activity by observing, checking or recording information at defined intervals. In ISO 53001 it covers progress towards SDG objectives and the functioning of the processes that contribute to them.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
The auditor checks that the organisation has decided what to monitor, by which methods, how often, by whom, and when results are analysed. That arrangement is compared with what is found: yearly readings for an indicator described as critical, or data that is never used, lead to a finding.
Monitoring is not the surveillance audit carried out each year by the certification body, although the French word surveillance covers both. The corresponding requirements appear in subclause 9.1 of clause 9 of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
From monitoring to analysis
Monitoring tells the organisation where it stands; analysis tells it why. The auditor checks that monitoring results are examined, not only collected: a supplier audit rate tracked every quarter but never discussed is data without use. Qualitative monitoring counts too, such as regular feedback from employee representatives on working conditions, provided it is recorded, dated and fed into the management review.
See also
- Measurement: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Measurement (French: *mesure*) is the process of determining a value: tonnes of CO₂ emitted, a gender pay gap, the share of suppliers assessed.
- Performance: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Performance (French: *performance*, the same word) is a measurable result, quantitative or qualitative.
- Surveillance audit: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A surveillance audit (French: *audit de surveillance*) is a periodic audit carried out by the certification body while an ISO 53001 certificate is valid.
- ISO/UNDP 53001 clause 9: what the auditor checksISO 53001 clause 9 deals with performance evaluation.