In the latter part of 2014, a group of countries started on an initiative to pilot illustrative work on governance in the context of the discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the time, SDG “Goal 16” as we now know it did not exist, but the fundamental aspects of peaceful, just and inclusive societies under discussion in the UN Open Working Group (OWG) were already of significant interest to a number of countries. Member States willing to champion such a goal and targets, raised the following questions: if we could start now, to work on the aspects of peace, justice and institutions under consideration in the OWG, where would we start and what would we prioritise? That was the start of an interesting initiative that UNDP has been proud to support in the five pilot countries – Albania, Indonesia, Rwanda, Tunisia and, at a later stage, the United Kingdom – who volunteered to address these questions. The Pilot countries have emphasised that whilst measuring Goal 16 is a challenge, more data is available on peace, justice and institutions than is often assumed. In addition to presenting the different phases of the Pilot Initiative, the report draws out the main lessons learned from the Pilots experience, and identifies some guidelines for work on implementation of aspects of Goal 16.