Gender mainstreaming is a global strategy for promoting gender equality that is clearly articulated in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which was adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China in 1995. Given the key role that gender equality plays in the socio-economic development of any country, the Platform clearly highlights the necessity to ensure that gender equality be a primary goal in all areas of national development. In the first decade following the Beijing Conference, there was great momentum in many countries towards gender mainstreaming. Governments demonstrated commitment to obtaining gender equality on all levels of government and sectors and much effort was targeted towards building national structures and mechanisms to promote gender equality. In March 2010, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) undertook a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The review on Africa noted some capacity constraints while acknowledging that some progress had been made in gender equality. It was noted that many obstacles still remain in realizing genuine gender equality and that gender mainstreaming as a strategy is plagued by several capacity issues. Using insights from nine countries in the Eastern and Southern African region, the presentation examines the capacity gaps that affect the mainstreaming of gender at national, institutional, and civil society levels and makes some recommendations on how capacity building institutions such as ACBF could engage more effectively in Africa, both at regional and national levels, to increase effectiveness and impact for gender mainstreaming and gender equality.