2. The Beijing Platform for Action identified 12 critical areas for priority action to achieve the advancement and empowerment of women. The Commission on the Status of Women has reviewed progress in each of the 12 critical areas of concern and since 1996 has adopted agreed conclusions and recommendations for accelerated implementation. The Platform for Action, together with these agreed conclusions and recommendations, forms the basis for  further progress towards the achievement of gender equality, development and peace in the 21^st century.

2bis. The objective of the Platform for Action, which is in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, is the empowerment of all women. The full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women is essential for the empowerment of women. While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The implementation of the Platform, as well as further actions and initiatives contained in this document, including through national laws and the formulation of strategies, policies, programmes and development priorities, is the sovereign responsibility of each State, in conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the significance of and full respect for various religious and ethical values, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions of individuals and their communities should contribute to the full enjoyment by women of their human rights in order to achieve equality, development and peace.

The Platform for Action emphasizes that women share common concerns that can be addressed only by working together and in partnership with men towards the common goal of gender equality around the world. It respects and values the full diversity of women’s situations and conditions and recognizes that some women face particular barriers to their empowerment.

4. Achievements: Considerable progress has been achieved in increasing recognition of gender dimensions of poverty and in the recognition that gender equality is one of the factors of specific importance for eradicating poverty particularly in relation to the feminization of poverty. Efforts have been made to integrate a gender perspective into poverty eradication policies and programmes by governments, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations. Multilateral, international and regional financial institutions are also giving increased attention to the incorporation of a gender perspective into their policies. Progress has been made by pursuing a two-pronged approach of promoting employment and income-generating activities for women and providing access to basic social services, including education and health care. Micro-credit and other financial instruments for women have emerged as a successful strategy for economic empowerment and have widened economic opportunities for some women living in poverty in particular in rural areas. Policy development has taken account of the particular needs of female-headed households. Research has enhanced the understanding of the differing impacts of poverty on women and men and tools have been developed to assist with this assessment.

6. Achievements: There is an increased awareness that education is one of the most valuable means of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Progress was achieved in women’s and girls education and training at all levels especially where there was sufficient political commitment and resource allocation. Measures were taken in all regions to initiate alternative education and training systems to reach women and girls in indigenous communities and other is advantaged and marginalized groups to encourage them to pursue all fields of study, in particular non-traditional fields of study, and to remove gender biases from education and training.

8. Achievements: Programmes have been implemented to create awareness among policy makers and planners on the need for health programmes to cover all aspects of women’s health throughout women’s life cycle which have contributed to an increase in life expectancy in many countries. There is: increased attention to high mortality rates among women and girls as a result of malaria, tuberculosis, water borne diseases, communicable and diarrhoel diseases and malnuturition; increased attention to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of women as contained in para. 94 and 95 of the Platform for Action, as well as in some countries increased emphasis on implementing para 96 of the Platform for Action; increased knowledge and use of family planning and contraceptive methods as well as increased awareness among men of their responsibility in family planning and contraceptive methods and their use; increased attention to sexually transmitted infections, including human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among women and girls and methods to protect against such infections; increased attention to breast-feeding, nutrition, infants’ and mothers’ health; the introduction of a gender perspective in health and health related educational and physical activities, and gender-specific prevention and rehabilitation programmes on substance abuse, including tobacco, drugs and alcohol; increased attention to women’s mental health, health conditions at work, environmental considerations and recognition of the specific health needs of older women. The UN Special Session in June/July 99 reviewed achievements and adopted key action in the field of women’s health for further implementation of the ICPD Programme ofAction.

10. Achievements: It is widely accepted that violence against women and girls, whether occurring in public or private life, is a human rights issue. It is accepted that violence against women where perpetrated or condoned by the state or its agents constitutes a human rights violation. It is also accepted that states have an obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent investigate and punish acts of violence whether those acts are perpetrated by the state or private persons and provide protection to victims. There is increased awareness and commitment to prevent and combat violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, which violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms through inter-alia, improved legislation, policies and programmes. Governments have initiated policy reforms and mechanisms such as interdepartmental committees, guidelines and protocols, national, multidisciplinary and co-ordinated programmes to address violence. Some Governments have also introduced or reformed laws to protect women and girls from all forms of violence and laws to prosecute the perpetrators. There is an increasing recognition at all levels that all forms of violence against women seriously affect their health. Health care providers are seen to have a significant role to play in addressing this matter. Some progress has been made in the provision of services for abused women and children, including legal services, shelters, special health services and counseling, hot lines and police units with special training. Education for law enforcement personnel, members of the judiciary, health care providers and welfare workers is being promoted. Educational materials for women and public awareness campaigns have been developed as well as research on the root causes of violence. There is increasing research and specialized studies being conducted on gender roles, in particular on men’s and boys’ roles, and all forms of violence against women, as well as on the situation of and impact on children growing up in families where violence occurs. Successful cooperation has been achieved between governmental and non-governmental organizations in the field of preventing violence against women. The active support of civil society in particular women’s organizations and NGOs has had an important role, inter-alia in promoting awareness-raising campaigns and in the provision of support services to women victims of violence. Efforts towards the eradication of harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation which is a form of violence against women has received national, regional and international policy support. Many Governments have introduced educational and outreach programmes, as well as legislative measures criminalizing these practices. In addition, this support includes the appointment of a Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

12. Achievements: There is a wider recognition that armed conflict has different destructive impacts on women and men and that a gender sensitive approach to the application of international human rights law and international humanitarian law is important. Steps have been taken at the national and international levels to address abuses against women, including increased attention to ending impunity for crimes against women in situations of armed conflict. The work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has been an important contribution to address violence against women in the context of armed conflict. Also of historical significance is the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which provides that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence are war crimes when committed in the context of armed conflict and also under defined circumstances, crimes against humanity. Women’s contribution in peace-building, peacemaking and conflict resolution is being increasingly recognized. Education and training on non- violent, conflict resolution have been introduced. Progress has been made on the dissemination and implementation of the guidelines for the protection of refugee women, and on addressing the needs of displaced women. Gender-based persecution has been accepted as a basis for refugee status in some countries. There is recognition by Governments, the international community and organizations, in particular the United Nations, that women and men experience humanitarian emergencies differently and there is a need for a more holistic support for refugee and displaced women, including those who have suffered all forms of abuse, including gender-specific abuse to ensure equal access to appropriate and adequate food and nutrition, clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, education, social and health services, including reproductive health care and maternity care. There is greater recognition of the need to integrate a gender perspective in the planning, design and implementation of humanitarian assistance and to provide adequate resources. Humanitarian relief agencies and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, have played an increasingly important role in the provision of humanitarian assistance as well as in the design where appropriate and implementation of programmes to address the needs of women and girls, including refugee and displaced women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, and in conflict and post-conflict situations.

13. Obstacles: Peace is inextricably linked to equality between women and men and development. Armed and other types of conflicts, wars of aggression, foreign occupation, colonial or other alien domination, as well as terrorism, continue to cause serious obstacles to the advancement of women. The targeting of civilians, including women and children, the displacement of people, and the recruitment of child soldiers in violation of national or international law, by state and/or non state actors, which occur in armed conflicts, have had a particular adverse impact on gender equality and women’s human rights. Armed conflict creates or exacerbates the high level of female-headed households, which in many cases are living in poverty. The underrepresentation, at all levels, of women from decision-making positions such as special envoys or special representatives of the Secretary-General in peacekeeping, peace-building, post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction as well as lack of gender awareness in these areas presents serious obstacles. There has been a failure to provide sufficient resources and to adequately distribute those resources, to address the needs of increasing numbers of refugees, who are mostly women and children, particularly to developing countries hosting large numbers of refugees; international assistance has not kept pace with the increasing number of refugees. The growing number of internally displaced persons and the provision of their needs, in particular women and children, continue to represent a double burden to the affected countries and their financial resources. Inadequate training of personneldealing with the needs of women in situations of armed conflict or as refugees such as a shortage of specific programmes that address healing of women from trauma and skills training, remains a problem.

Excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production taking into consideration national security requirements direct the possible allocation of funds away from social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women. In several countries, economic sanctions have had social and humanitarian impact on the civilian population in particular women and children.

In some countries, advancement of women is adversely affected by unilateral measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that create obstacles to trade relations among States, impede the full realization of social and economic development and hinder the well being of the population in the affected countries, with particular consequences for women and children.

14. Achievements: There is increased participation of women in the labour market and subsequent gain in economic autonomy. Some Governments have introduced a variety of measures, that address women’s economic and social rights, equal access to and control over economic resources and equality in employment. Other measures include ratification of international labour conventions as well as enacting or strengthening legislation to make it compatible with these conventions. There is increased awareness of the need to reconcile employment and family responsibilities and the positive effect of measures such as maternity and paternity leave and also parental leave, and child and family care services and benefits. Some Governments have made provisions to address discriminatory and abusive behaviour in the workplace and to prevent unhealthy working conditions and have established funding mechanisms to promote women’s roles in entrepreneurship, education and training, including scientific and technical skills and decision-making. Research has been conducted on barriers to economic empowerment faced by women including the relationship between remunerated and unremunerated work and tools are being developed to assist with this assessment.

16. Achievements: There has been growing acceptance of the importance to society of the full participation of women in decision-making and power at all levels and in all fora, including inter-governmental, governmental, and non-governmental sectors. In some countries, women have also attained higher positions in these spheres. An increasing number of countries applied affirmative and positive action policies, including quota systems or voluntary agreements in some countries, measurable goals and targets, developed training programmes for women’s leadership and introduced measures to reconcile family and work responsibilities of both women and men. National mechanisms and machineries for the advancement of women as well as national and international networks of women politicians, parliamentarians, activists and professionals in various fields have been established or upgraded and strengthened.

18. Achievements: National machineries have been instituted or strengthened and recognized as the institutional base acting as "catalysts" for promoting gender equality, gender mainstreaming and monitoring of the implementation of the Platform for Action and in many instances of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In many countries, progress has been achieved in terms of the visibility, status, outreach and coordination of activities of these machineries. Gender mainstreaming has been widely acknowledged as a strategy to enhance the impact of policies to promote gender equality. The goal of the strategy is to incorporate a gender perspective in all legislation, policies, programmes, and projects. These machineries, despite their limited financial resources, have made a significant contribution to the development of human resources in the field of gender studies and also contributed to the growing efforts for the generation and dissemination of data disaggregated by sex and age, gender-sensitive research and documentation. Within the UN system much progress has been made in the mainstreaming of a gender perspective including through the development of tools and the creation of gender focal points.

20. Achievements: Legal reforms have been undertaken to prohibit all forms of discrimination and discriminatory provisions have been eliminated in civil, penal and personal status law governing marriage and family relations, all forms of violence, women’s property and ownership rights and women’s political, work and employment rights. Steps have been taken to realize women’s de facto enjoyment of their human rights through the creation of an enabling environment, including the adoption of policy measures, the improvement of enforcement and monitoring mechanisms and the implementation of legal literacy and awareness campaigns at all levels. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been ratified or acceded to by 165 countries and its full implementation has been promoted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The 54th session of the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention allowing women claiming to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set forth in the Convention by a State party to submit their claims to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to which non-governmental organizations contributed by raising awareness and generating support for its adoption. Women’s NGOs have also contributed to raising awareness that women’s rights are human rights. They also generated support for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the elaboration of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Progress has also been made to integrate the human rights of women and mainstream a gender perspective into the UN system, including into the work of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and of the Commission on Human Rights.

22. Achievements: The establishment of local, national and international women’s media networks has contributed to global information dissemination, exchange of views and support to women's groups active in media work. The development of information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, has provided improved communication opportunities for the empowerment of women and girls which enabled an increasing number of women to contribute to knowledge sharing, networking and electronic commerce activities. The number of women’s media organizations and programmes has increased, facilitating the aims of increased participation and promotion of positive portrayals of women in the media. Progress has been made to combat negative images of women by establishing professional guidelines and voluntary codes of conduct encouraging fair gender portrayal and the use of non-sexist language in media programmes.

24. Achievements: Some national environment policies and programmes have incorporated gender perspectives. In recognition of the link between gender equality, poverty eradication, sustainable development and environmental protection, governments have included income-generating activities for women, as well as training in natural resource management and environmental protection in their development strategies. Projects have been launched to preserve and utilize women’s traditional ecological knowledge, including the traditional tecological knowledge of indigenous women, in the management of natural resources, and preservation of bio-diversity.

28. The review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action occurred in a rapidly changing global context. Since 1995, a number of issues have gained prominence and acquired new dimensions which pose additional challenges to the full and accelerated implementation of the Platform in order to realize gender equality, development and peace by Governments, intergovernmental bodies, international organizations, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations as appropriate. Continued political commitment to gender equality, at all levels, is needed for the full implementation of the Platform for Action.

29. Globalization has presented new challenges for the fulfillment of the commitments made and the realization of the goals of the Beijing Conference. The globalization process has in some countries, resulted in policy shifts in favour of more open trade and financial flows, privatization of state-owned enterprises and in many cases lower public spending particularly on social services. This change has transformed patterns of production and accelerated technological advances in information and communication and affected the lives of women, both as workers and consumers. In a large number of countries, particularly in developing and least developed countries, these changes have also adversely impacted on the lives of women and have increased inequality. The gender impact of these changes has not been systematically evaluated. Globalization also has cultural, political, and social impacts affecting cultural values, lifestyles and forms of communication as well as implications for the achievement of sustainable development. Benefits of the growing global economy have been unevenly distributed leading to wider economic disparities, the feminization of poverty, increased gender inequality, including through often deteriorating work conditions and unsafe working environments especially in the informal economy and rural areas. While globalization has brought greater economic opportunities and autonomy to some women, many others have been marginalized, due to deepening inequalities among and within countries, by depriving them from the benefits of this process. Although in many countries the level of participation of women in the labour force has risen, in other cases, the application of certain economic policies have had a negative impact such that increases in women’s employment often have not been matched by improvements in wages, promotions and working conditions. In many cases, women continue to be employed in low paid, part-time, and contract jobs marked by insecurity and by safety and health hazards. In many countries women, especially new entrants into the labour market, continue to be among the first to lose jobs and the last to be rehired.

30. Increasing disparities in the economic situation among and within countries, coupled with a growing economic interdependence and dependence of States on external factors as well as the financial crises have, in recent years, altered prospects of growth and caused economic instability in many countries, with a heavy impact on the lives of women. These have affected the ability of States to provide social protection and social security as well as funding for the implementation of the Platform for Action. Such difficulties are also reflected in the shift of the cost of social protection, social security and other welfare provisions from the public sector to the household. The decreasing levels of funding available through international cooperation has contributed to further marginalization of a large number of developing countries and countries with economies in transition within which women are amongst the poorest. The agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance has not been achieved. These factors have contributed to the increasing feminization of poverty, which has undermined efforts to achieve gender equality. Limited funding at the state-level makes it imperative that innovative approaches to the allocation of existing resources be employed, not only by Governments but also by NGOs and the private sector. One such innovation is the gender analysis of public budgets which is emerging as an important tool for determining the differential impact of expenditures on women and men to help ensure equitable use of existing resources. This analysis is crucial to promote gender equality.

30 bis. The impact of globalization and structural adjustment programmes, the high costs of external debt servicing and declining terms of international trade, in several developing countries, have worsened the existing obstacles to development, aggravating the feminization of poverty. Negative consequences of structural adjustment programmes, stemming from the inappropriate design and application, have continued to place a disproportionate burden on women, inter-alia through budget cuts in basic social services, including education and health.

30 ter. There is greater acceptance that the increasing debt burden faced by most indebted developing countries is unsustainable and constitutes one of the principle obstacles to achieving progress in people-centered sustainable development and poverty eradication. For many developing countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, excessive debt servicing has severely constrained their capacity to promote social development and provide basic services and has affected full implementation of the Platform for Action.

30 quinter: In countries with economies in transition women are bearing most of the hardships induced by the economic restructuring and being the first to lose jobs in times of recession. They are being squeezed out from fast growth sectors. Loss of childcare facilities due to elimination or privatization of state work places, increased need for older care without the corresponding facilities, continuing inequality of access to training for finding re-employment and to productive assets for entering or expanding businesses are current challenges facing women in these countries.

31. Science and technology, as fundamental components of development, are transforming patterns of production, contributing to the creation of jobs and new job classifications, and ways of working, and contributing to the establishment of a knowledge-based society. Technological change can bring new opportunities for all women in all fields if they have equal access, and adequate training. Women should also be actively involved in the definition, design, development, implementation and gender impact evaluation of policies related to these changes. Many women world-wide are yet to effectively use these new communications technologies for networking, advocacy, exchange of information business, education, media consultation and e-commerce initiatives. For instance, millions of the world’s poorest women and men still do not have access to and benefits from science and technologies and are currently excluded from this new field and the opportunities it presents.

32. The patterns of migratory flows of labour are changing. Women and girls are increasingly involved in internal, regional and international labour migration to pursue many occupations mainly in farm labour, domestic work and some forms of entertainment work. While this situation increases their earning opportunities and self-reliance, it also exposes them, particularly the poor, uneducated, unskilled and/or undocumented migrants to inadequate working conditions, increased health risk, the risk of trafficking, economic and sexual exploitation, racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, and other forms of abuse, which impair their enjoyment of their human rights, and in some cases, constitute violations of human rights.

33. While recognizing that governments have the primary responsibility to develop and implement policies to promote gender equality, partnerships between governments and different actors of civil society are increasingly recognized as an important mechanism to achieve this goal. Additional innovative approaches can be further developed to foster this collaboration.

36. In some countries, current demographic trends, which show that lowered fertility rates, increased life expectancy and lower mortality rates, have contributed to ageing of the population, and increase in chronic health conditions and have implications for health care systems and spending, informal care systems and research. Given the gap between male and female life expectancy, the number of widows and older single women has increased considerably, often leading to their social isolation and other social challenges. Societies have much to gain from the knowledge and life experience of older women. On the other hand, the current generation of young people is the largest in history. Adolescent girls and young women have particular needs which will require increasing attention.

37. The rapid progression of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly in the developing world, has had a devastating impact on women. Responsible behaviour and gender equality are among the important prerequisites for its prevention. There is also the need for more effective strategies to empower women to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, to protect themselves from high risk and irresponsible behaviour leading to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and to promote responsible, safe and respectful behaviour by men and to also promote gender equality. HIV/AIDS is an urgent public health issue, is outstripping efforts to contain it and, in many countries, is reversing hard one gains of development. The burden of care for people living with HIV/AIDS and for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS falls particularly on women, as infrastructures are inadequate to respond to the challenges being posed. Women with HIV/AIDS often suffer from discrimination and a stigma and are often victims of violence. Issues related to prevention, mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, breastfeeding, information and education in particular of youth, curbing high risks behaviour, intravenous drug users, support groups, counseling and voluntary testing, partner notification, and provision and high costs of essential drugs have not been sufficiently addressed. There are positive signs in the fight against HIV/AIDS in some countries that behavoural changes have occurred among young people and experience shows that educational programmes for young people can lead to a more positive view on gender relations and gender equality, delayed sexual initiation and reduced risks of sexually transmitted infections.

37 bis: Growing drug and substance abuse among young women and girls, both in developed and developing countries, has raised the need for increased efforts towards demand reduction and fight against illicit production, supply and trafficking of narcotic drugs, and psychotropic substances.

38. The increase in casualties and damage caused by natural disasters has raised awareness of the inefficiencies and inadequacies in the existing approaches and intervention methods in responding to such emergency situations, in which women, more often than men, are burdened with the responsibility of meeting the immediate daily needs of their families. This situation has raised awareness that a gender perspective must be incorporated whenever disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery strategies are being developed and implemented.

42. In view of the evaluation of progress made five years since the Beijing Conference in implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, contained in chapter II, as well as the current challenges affecting its full realization, outlined in chapter III, Governments now recommit themselves to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and also commit to further actions and initiatives to overcome the obstacles and address the challenges. Governments, in taking continued and additional steps to achieve the goals of the Platform, recognize that the full enjoyment of all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social, including the right to development – are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and are essential for realizing gender equality, development and peace in the twenty-first century.

43. Organizations of the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as the World Trade Organization, other international and regional intergovernmental bodies, parliaments, civil society, including the private sector and NGOs, trade unions and other stakeholders are called upon to support government efforts and, where appropriate, develop complementary programmes of their own to achieve full and effective implementation of the Platform for Action.

43.bis Governments and intergovernmental organizations recognize the contribution and complementary role of NGOs, with full respect for their autonomy, in ensuring the effective implementation of the Platform for Action and should continue to strengthen partnerships with NGOs, particularly women’s organizations in contributing to the effective implementation and follow-up of the Platform for Action.

43.ter Experience has shown that the goal of gender equality can be fully achieved only in the context of renewed relations among different stakeholders at all levels. The full effective participation of women on the basis of equality in all spheres of society is necessary to contribute to this goal.

44. Achieving gender equality and empowerment of women requires redressing inequalities between women and men and girls and boys and ensuring their equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and possibilities. Gender equality implies that women’s as well as men’s needs, interests, concerns, experiences and priorities are an integral dimension of the design, implementation, national monitoring, and follow-up and evaluation, including at the international level, of all actions in all areas.

46. By adopting the Platform for Action governments and the international community agreed to a common development agenda with gender equality and women’s empowerment as underlying principles. The efforts towards ensuring women’s participation in development have expanded and need to combine a focus on women’s conditions and basic needs with an holistic approach based on equal rights and partnerships, promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Policies and programmes should be formulated to achieve the goal of people-centred sustainable development, secure livelihoods and adequate social protection measures, including safety nets, strengthened support systems for families equal access to and control over financial and economic resources, and eliminate increasing and disproportionate poverty among women. All economic policies, institutions and resource allocation should adopt a gender perspective to ensure that development dividends are shared on equal grounds.

46 bis: Increased efforts are needed to provide equal access to education, health, and social services and to ensure women’s and girls’ rights to education and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and well-being throughout the life cycle, as well as adequate, affordable and universally accessible health care and services including sexual and reproductive health, particularly in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; they are also necessary with regard to the growing proportion of older women.

47. Given that a majority of the world’s women are subsistence producers and users of environmental resources, there is a need to recognize and integrate women’s knowledge and priorities in the conservation and management of such resources to ensure their sustainability. Programmes and infrastructures that are gender-sensitive are needed in order to effectively respond to disaster and emergency situations that threaten the environment, livelihood security, as well as the management of the basic requirements of daily life.

47 bis: Sustaining the livelihoods of populations in States with limited or scarce resources, including Small Island Developing States is critically dependent on the preservation and protection of the environment. Women’s customary knowledge, management and sustainable use of biodiversity should be recognized.

48 bis: Continue to design efforts for the promotion of respect for cultural diversity and dialogue among and within civilizations in a manner which contributes to the implementation of the Platform for Action , which aims at the empowerment of women and the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all women and in a manner which ensures that gender equality and the full enjoyment of all human rights by women are not undermined;

49. Political will and commitment at all levels are crucial to ensure mainstreaming of a genderperspective in the adoption and implementation of comprehensive and action oriented policies in all areas. Policy commitments are essential for further developing the necessary framework which ensures women’s equal access to and control over economic and financial resources,training, services and institutions as well as their participation in decision making andmanagement. Policy making processes require the partnership of women and men at all levels. Men and boys should also be actively involved and encouraged in all efforts to achieve the goals of the Platform for Action and its implementation.

51. Violence against women and girls is a major obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of gender equality, development and peace. Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Gender based violence, such as battering and other domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual slavery and exploitation, and international trafficking in women and children, forced prostitution and sexual harassment, as well as violence against women, resulting from cultural prejudice, racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia, pornography, ethnic cleansing, armed conflict, foreign occupation, religious and anti-religious extremism and terrorism are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and must be combated and eliminated.

51 ter. Women play a critical role in the family. The family is the basic unit of society and is a strong force for social cohesion and integration and as such should be strengthened. The inadequate support to women and insufficient protection and support to their respective families affect society as a whole and undermines efforts to achieve gender equality. In different cultural, political and social systems, various forms of the family exist and the rights, capabilities and responsibilities of family members must be respected. Women’s social and economic contributions to the welfare of the family and the social significance of maternity and paternity continue to be inadequately addressed. Motherhood and fatherhood and the role of parents and legal guardians in the family and in the upbringing of children and the importance of all family members to the family’s well-being is also acknowledged and must not be a basis for discrimination. Women also continue to bear a disproportionate share of the household responsibilities and the care of children, the sick and the elderly. Such imbalance needs to be consistently addressed through appropriate policies and programmes, in particular those geared towards education and through legislation where appropriate. In order to achieve full partnership, both in public and private spheres, both women and men must be enabled to reconcile and share equally work responsibilities and family responsibilities.

52. Strong national machineries for the advancement of women and promotion of gender equality require political commitment at the highest level and all necessary, human and financial resources to initiate, recommend and facilitate the development, adoption and monitoring of policies, legislation, programmes and capacity-building for the empowerment of women and to act as catalysts for open public dialogue on gender equality as a societal goal. This would enable them to promote the advancement of women and mainstreaming a gender perspective in policy and programmes in all areas, to play an advocacy role, and to ensure equal

access to all institutions and resources , as well as enhanced capacity building for women in all sectors. Reforms to meet the challenges of the changing world are essential to ensure women’s equal access to institutions and organizations. Institutional and conceptual changes are a strategic and important aspect of creating an enabling environment for the implementation of the Platform for Action.

53. Programme support to enhance women’s opportunities, potentials and activities need to have a dual focus: one the one hand, programmes aimed at meeting the basic as well as the specific needs of women for capacity building, organizational development and empowerment; and on the other, gender mainstreaming in all programme formulation and implementation activities. It is particularly important to expand into new areas of programming to advance gender equality in response to current challenges.

53 bis. Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are generally among the more vulnerable and marginalized of society. There is therefore need to take into

account and to address their concerns in all policy making and programming. Special measures are needed at all levels to integrate them into the mainstream of development.

54. Effective and coordinated plans and programmes for the full implementation of the Platform for Action require a clear knowledge on the situation of women and girls, a clear research-based knowledge and data disaggregated by sex, short and long-term time-bound targets and measurable goals and follow-up mechanisms to assess progress. Efforts are needed to ensure capacity building for all the actors involved in the achievement of these goals. Efforts are also needed at the national level, to increase transparency and accountability.

55. The realization of the goals of gender equality, development and peace at the national and international level needs to be supported by the allocation of necessary human and financial resources for specific and targeted activities to ensure gender equality at the local, national, regional and international level as well as by enhanced and increased international cooperation. The explicit attention to these goals in budgetary processes at the national, regional and international level is essential.

55 bis. Recognizing the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women in many countries, particularly in developing countries, it is essential to continue from a gender perspective to review, modify and implement integrated macro-economic and social policies and programmes, including, inter alia , those related to structural adjustment and external debt problems, to ensure universal and equitable access to social services, in particular to education, and affordable quality health care services and equal access to and control over economic resources.

113 a. Provide national statistical offices with institutional and financial support in order to collect, compile and disseminate data disaggregated by sex, age, and other factors as appropriate, in formats that are accessible to the public and to policy-makers for interalia gender-based analysis, monitoring and impact assessment, and support new work to develop statistics and indicators, especially in areas where information is particularly lacking;

114 a. Encourage the creation of training and legal literacy programmes, which build and support the capacities of women’s organizations to advocate for women’s and girls’ human rights and fundamental freedoms;

114 b. Encourage collaboration and, where appropriate, among various levels of Governments, NGOs, grass-roots organizations , traditional and community leaders for the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and the dignity and worth of the human person and equal rights for women and men;

115 a. Adopt a holistic approach to women’s physical and mental health throughout the life cycle, take further measures to redesign health information, services and training for health workers in order to make them gender-sensitive, promote gender balance at all levels of the health care system, and reflect women’s perspective and right to privacy, confidentiality, voluntary and informed consent;

115 a. bis Reinforce efforts to ensure universal access to high quality primary health care, throughout the life cycle, including sexual and reproductive health care, not later than 2015;

Note: to be moved to national and international level

123 a. Support activities aimed at the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, including providing support for the activities of women’s networks and organizations within the United Nations system;

123 b. Consider launching an international "zero tolerance" campaign on violence against women;

124 a. Encourage implementation of measures designed to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender balance in all posts including at the professional level and above, in particular at the higher levels in their secretariats including in peacekeeping missions and peace negotiations and in all activities and report thereon as appropriate, and enhancing management accountability mechanisms;

Note : to be moved to 135

Note : to be moved to national level

Note: to be moved to international level (following 121 a)

Note: to be moved to national level

128 b. Develop policies and implement programmes including education programmes, particularly for men and boys, on changing stereotypical attitudes and behaviours concerning gender roles and responsibilities to promote gender equality and positive attitudes and behaviours;

128 c. Strengthen and promote programmes to support the participation of young women in youth organizations and encourage dialogue among youth between and among developed and developing countries;

128 d. Support national efforts to promote formal and non-formal education and mentoring programmes for women and girls, in order to enable them to acquire knowledge, develop self-esteem and skills in leadership, advocacy and conflict resolution;

128 d.bis. Undertake comprehensive actions to provide skills training for women and girls at all levels, in order to eradicate poverty, in particular the feminization of poverty, through national and international efforts;

128e. Strengthen gender-awareness campaigns and gender equality training among women and men, girls and boys to eliminate the persistence of harmful stereotypes;

128 h. With the full voluntary participation of indigenous women, develop and implement educational and training programmes that respect their history, culture, spirituality, languages and aspirations and ensure their access to all levels of formal and non-formal education, including higher education;

128 i. Continue to support and strengthen national, regional and international adult literacy programmes with international cooperation in order to achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults;

128j. Continue to examine the decline in enrollment rates and the increase in the drop-out rates of girls and boys at the primary and secondary education levels in some countries, and, with international cooperation, design appropriate national programmes to eliminate the root causes and support lifelong learning for women and girls, with a view to ensuring achievement of relevant international targets on education set by the relevant international conferences;

128 l. Ensure equal opportunities for women and girls in cultural, recreational and sports activities, as well as in participation in athletics and physical activities at national, regional and international levels, such as access, training, competition, remuneration and prizes;

128 o. Design and implement policies and programmes, to fully address specific needs of women and girls with disabilities, to ensure their equal access to education at all levels, including technical and vocational training and adequate rehabilitation programmes, to health care and services and employment opportunities, to protect and promote their human rights and, where appropriate, eliminate existing inequalities between women and men with disabilities.

129 b. Develop and maintain consultative processes and mechanisms, in partnership with women’s organizations including NGOs and community groups, to ensure that allwomen, with attention to those who face particular barriers to their participation in public life, are fully involved in and informed about decisions which impact their lives;

129 d. Apply and support positive measures to give all women, particularly indigenous women, equal access to capacity-building and training programmes to enhance their participation in decision-making in all fields and at all levels;

130 a. Increase cooperation, policy responses, effective implementation of national legislation and other protective and preventive measures aimed at the elimination of violence against women and girls, especially all forms of commercial sexual exploitation, as well as economic exploitation, including inter alia, trafficking in women and children, female infanticide, crimes committed in the name of honour, crimes committed in the name of passion, racially motivated crimes, abduction and sale of children, dowry related violence and deaths, acid attacks and harmful traditional or customary practices such as FGM, early and forced marriages;

130 c. Increase awareness and knowledge of the Rome Statute of the ICC which affirms that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence constitute war crimes and, in defined circumstances, crimes against humanity, with the aim of preventing such crimes from occurring and take measures to support prosecution of all persons responsible for such crimes and provide avenues for redress to victims; also increase awareness of the extent to which such crimes are used as a weapon of war;

130 d. Provide support to NGOs, in collaboration with the UN system, inter alia through regional and international cooperation, including women’s organizations, and community groups in addressing all forms of violence against women and girls, including for programmes to combat race and ethnic-based violence against women and girls;

130 e. Prosecute the perpetrators of all forms of violence against women and girls and sentence them appropriately and introduce actions aimed at helping and motivating perpetrators to break the cycle of violence and take measures to provide avenues for redress to victims;

130 f. Provide gender sensitive training to all actors, as appropriate, in peacekeeping missions in dealing with victims of violence, particularly women and girls, including sexual violence;

130 f. bis Provide gender sensitive training to all actors, including police, prosecutors and the judiciary in dealing with victims of violence, particularly women and girls, including sexual violence;

130 g. Encourage and support public campaigns, as appropriate, to enhance public awareness of the unacceptability and social costs of violence against women and undertake prevention activities to promote healthy and balanced relationships based on gender equality;

131 a. Intensify cooperation between states of origin, transit and destination to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children;

131 b. Support the ongoing negotiations on the draft protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;

131c. As appropriate, pursue and support national, regional and international strategies to reduce the risk to women and girls, including those who are refugees and displaced, as well as women migrant workers, of becoming victims of trafficking; strengthen national legislation by further defining the crime of trafficking in all its elements and by reinforcing the punishment accordingly; enact social and economic policies and programmes, as well as information and awareness raising initiatives, to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children; prosecute perpetrators of trafficking; provide measures to support, assist and protect trafficked persons in countries of origin and destination; and facilitate their return to and support their reintegration in countries of origin;

132 a. Improve knowledge and awareness of the remedies available for violations of women’s human rights;

132 b. Promote and protect the human rights of all migrant women and implement policies to address the specific needs of documented migrant women and, where necessary, tackle the existing inequalities between men and women migrants to ensure gender equality;

132 c. Promote respect for the right of women and men to the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Recognize the central role that religion, spirituality and belief play in the lives of millions of women and men;

132 d. Encourage co-operation between governmental authorities, parliamentarians and other relevant authorities and women’s organizations including NGOs, as appropriate, in ensuring that legislation is non-discriminatory;

132 e. Encourage, through the media and other means, a high awareness of harmful effects of certain traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women, some of which increase their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections and intensify efforts to eliminate such practices;

132 f. Take necessary measures to protect individuals, groups and organs of society engaged in promoting and protecting women's human rights;

132 g. Encourage States parties to continue to include a gender perspective in their reports to the treaty bodies; also encourage these bodies to continue to take into account a gender perspective in the implementation of their mandates, taking into account the need to avoid unnecessary duplication and overlapping of their work; further encourage human rights mechanisms to continue to take into account a gender perspective in their work;

132 i. Take measures to enable all older women to be actively engaged in all aspects of life, as well as assume a variety of roles in communities, public life and decision-making, and develop and implement policies and programmes to ensure their full enjoyment of human rights and quality of life, as well as to address their needs, with a view to contribute to the realization of a society for all ages;

132i bis. Support innovative programmes to empower older women to increase their contribution to and benefit from development and efforts to combat poverty;

133a. Promote comprehensive human rights education programmes, inter alia in cooperation, where appropriate, with education and human rights institutions, the relevant actors of civil society, in particular NGOs and the media networks, to ensure widespread dissemination of information on human rights instruments, in particular those on human rights of women and girls;

133. b. Take measures, through inter alia, supporting and strengthening existing mechanisms entrusted with prosecuting perpetrators of violations of human rights of women, to eliminate impunity;

133 b. bis Take measures to eliminate violations of international law and the United Nations Charter. Many of these violations have a negative impact on the promotion and protection of human rights of women;

133 d. Address the root causes of armed conflict in a comprehensive and durable manner as well as the differences in the impact of armed conflict on women and men and take them into account in relevant policies and programmes, in order to, inter alia , enhance the protection of civilians, particularly women and children;

133 f. Consider signing and ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

133 g. Ensure release of hostages, particularly women and children, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflict;

133 h. Develop and support policies and programmes for the protection of children, especially girls, in hostilities, in order to prohibit their forced recruitment and use by all actors, and to promote and/or strengthen mechanisms for their rehabilitation and reintegration, taking into account the specific experiences and needs of girls;

133 i. Improve and strengthen the capacity of women affected by situations of armed conflict including women refugees and displaced women by inter alia, involving them in the design and management of humanitarian activities so that they benefit from these activities on an equal basis with men;

133 j. Seek to ensure the full and equal participation of women in the promotion of peace, in particular, through the full implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a culture of peace;

133 k bis. Provide support to and empower women who play an important role within their families as stabilizing factors in conflict and post-conflict situations;

133 m. bis. Strengthen efforts towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, based on the priorities established by the United Nations in the field of disarmament, so that released resources could be used for, inter alia, social and economic programmes which benefit women and girls;

133 m. ter. Explore new ways of generating new public and private financial resources,inter alia , through the appropriate reduction of excessive military expenditures and the arms trade and investment for arms production and acquisition, including global military expenditures, taking into consideration national security requirements, so as to permit the possible allocation of additional funds for social and economic development, inter alia for the advancement of women;

133 n. Take measures to ensure the protection of refugees, especially women and girls, and their access to and the provision of gender sensitive appropriate basic social services, including education and health;

134 a. Cooperate and work with private sector partners and media networks at national and international levels to promote equal access for women and men as producers and consumers, particularly in the area of information and communications technologies, including through encouraging the media and the information industry consistent with freedom of expression to adopt, or develop further codes of conduct, professional guidelines and other self-regulatory guidelines to remove gender stereotypes and promote balanced portrayals of women and men;

134 b. Develop programmes that support women’s ability to create, access and promote networking, in particular through the use of new information and communications technology, including through the establishment and support of programmes to build the capacity of women’s NGOs in this regard;

134 h. Capitalize on the new information technologies, including the Internet, to improve the global sharing of information, research, strengths, lessons learned from women’s experiences, including "Herstories" related to achieving gender equality, development and peace, and study other roles that these technologies can play towards that goal;

135 (a) former 125 G. Take effective measures to address the challenges of globalization, including through the enhanced and effective participation of developing countries in the international economic policy decision-making process, in order to inter alia , guarantee the equal participation of women, in particular those from developing countries, in the process of macro-economic decision making;

135 (b) former 125 D. Take measures with the full and effective participation of women to ensure new approaches to international development cooperation, based on stability, growth and equity with the enhanced and effective participation and the integration of developing countries in the globalizing world economy, geared towards poverty eradication and thereduction of gender-based inequality within the overall framework of achieving people centred sustainable development;

135 (c ) former 125.A. Design and strengthen poverty eradication strategies with the full and effective participation of women that reduce the feminization of poverty and enhance the capacity of women and empower them to meet the negative social and

economic impacts of globalization;

135 d. Intensify efforts to implement poverty eradication programmes and evaluate, with the participation of women, the extent to which these programmes have an impact on the empowerment of women living in poverty, in terms of access to quality training and education as well as health care, employment, basic social services, inheritance, and access to and control over land, housing, income, micro-credit and other financial instruments and services, and introduce improvements to such programmes in the light of the above assessment;

135 (e) former 135 e bis. Recognizing the mutually reinforcing links between gender equality and poverty eradication, elaborate and implement, where appropriate, in consultation with civil society, comprehensive gender sensitive poverty eradication strategies addressing social, structural and macro-economic issues;

135 (f) former 135 g Encourage the establishment, in partnership with private financial institutions where appropriate of "lending windows" and other accessible financial services with simplified procedures that are specifically designed to meet the savings, credit and insurance needs of all women;

135 (g) former 125 J. Undertake comprehensive actions to provide and support quality skills training for women and girls at all levels, on the basis of strategies developed with their full and effective participation, to achieve agreed targets to eradicate poverty, in particular the feminization of poverty, through national, regional and international efforts. National efforts need to be complemented by intensified regional and international cooperation in order to tackle the risks, overcome the challenges and ensure that opportunities created by globalization benefit women, particularly in developing countries;

135 (h) former 135 e. Establish, with the full and effective participation of women and in consultation with civil society, particularly NGOs, in a timely manner, social development funds, where appropriate, to alleviate the negative effects on women associated with structural adjustment programmes and trade liberalization and the disproportionate burden borne by women living in poverty;

135 (i) former 125 C. Identify and implement development-oriented and durable solutions which integrate a gender perspective to external debt and debt-servicing problems of developing countries, including least-developed countries, inter alia , through debt relief, including the option of ODA debt cancellation, in order to help them to finance programmes and projects targeted at development, including the advancement of women;

135 (j) former 135 f. Support the Cologne initiative for the reduction of debt, particularly the speedy implementation of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, ensure the provision of adequate funds for its implementation, and the provision that funds saved should be used to support anti-poverty programmes that address gender dimensions;

135 (k) former 135 a. Promote and accelerate the implementation of the 20/20 initiative that integrates a gender perspective to fully benefit all, particularly women and girls;

135 (l) former 135 b. Call for continued international cooperation including the reaffirmation to strive to fulfill the yet to be attained internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, thereby increasing the flow of resources for gender equality, development and peace;

135 (m) former 135 b bis.: Facilitate the transfer to developing countries and countries with economies in transition of appropriate technology, particularly new and modern technology and encourage efforts by the international community to eliminate restrictions to such transfers, as an effective means of complementing national efforts for further acceleration in achieving the goals of gender equality, development and peace;

135 (n) former 135c Recommend to the Preparatory Committee for the MillenniumAssembly to make an effort within the context of gender mainstreaming in the UN system, to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and documents related to the Millennium Assembly and Summit, including in the consideration of poverty eradication;

136 a. Create and strengthen an enabling environment, in accordance with national laws, to support the capacity of women’s NGOs to mobilize resources to ensure sustainability of their development activities;

136 c. Encourage the establishment and strengthening of multi-stakeholder partnerships / cooperation at all levels among international and inter-governmental organizations, with relevant actors of civil society including NGOs, private sector and trade unions, and women’s organizations and other NGOs, communications and media systems in support of the goals of the Fourth World Conference on Women;

136 d. Encourage partnerships and cooperation among governments, international organizations, in particular international financial institutions, and multilateral organizations, the private sector institutions and civil society including NGOs, especially women’s and community-based organizations to support poverty eradication initiatives focused on women and girls;

136 e. Support the work of NGOs and community based organizations in helping disadvantaged women, in particular rural women, in having access to financial institutions in establishing businesses and other sustainable means of livelihood;

136 f. Recognize the crucial role of and support women and women’s NGOs and CBOs in the implementation of Agenda 21, by integrating a gender perspective in the formulation, design and implementation of sustainable environmental and resource management mechanisms, programmes and infrastructure;

136 g. Promote gender-sensitivity and social responsibility of the private sector, inter alia through management of work time, and dissemination of gender-sensitive information and advocacy campaigns;

138 a. Promote programmes for healthy active ageing that stress the independence, equality, participation, and security of older women and undertake gender-specific research and programmes to address their needs;

138 c. As a matter of priority, especially in those countries most affected, and in partnership with NGOs, wherever possible, intensify education, services and community based mobilization strategies to protect women of all ages from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, including through the development of safe, affordable, effective and easily accessible female-controlled methods, including methods such as microbicides and female condoms that protect against sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; voluntary and confidential HIV testing and counselling, and the promotion of responsible sexual behaviour, including abstinence and condom use; development of vaccines, simple low-cost diagnosis and single dose treatments for sexually transmitted infections;

138 d. Provide access to adequate and affordable treatment, monitoring and care for all people, especially women and girls, infected with sexually transmitted diseases or living with life threatening diseases, including HIV/AIDS and associated opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis. Provide other services, including adequate housing and social protection, including during pregnancy and breastfeeding; assist boys and girls orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and provide gender sensitive support systems for women and other family members who are involved in caring for persons affected by serious health conditions, including HIV/AIDS;

138 e bis: Take effective and expeditious measures to mobilize international and national public opinion concerning the effects of different dimensions of the world drug problems on women and girls and ensure that appropriate resources are provided to this end;