March 2005, New York

Note: This version contains the codes included in the original text

The Commission on the Status of Women,

PP1 Deeply convinced that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century", are important contributions to the advancement of women worldwide in the achievement of gender equality and must be translated into effective action by all States, the United Nations system and other organizations concerned, (pp2, A/C.3/58/L.85) (from PP0, PP1bis, PP2, PP2bis, PP2bis alt, PP2ter, PP2ter alt, PP2 quart, PP2quint, PP2 quint alt, PP2 sex, PP2 sept) Reaffirming the goals, objectives, and commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, "Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century";

PP2 Recalling the goals and commitments of all other relevant major United Nations conferences and summits;

PP3 Recalling also the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women;

PP4 Recalling GA resolution 58/142 of 22 December 2003, on Women and Political Participation; GA resolution 58/206 of 11 February 2004, on Women in Development; and GA resolution 59/246 of November 2004, on 2005 the International Year of Microcredit;

PP5 Recalling its Agreed Conclusions on eradicating poverty, including through the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle, in a globalizing world, and its Agreed Conclusions on the participation and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women;

PP6 Noting the Report of the Commission on the Private Sector and Development entitled "Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor";

Noting the Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization; "A Fair Globalization: creating opportunities for all";

PP7 Noting that hundreds of millions of women and girls, worldwide, live in poverty, and that the majority of these live in rural areas where their livelihoods are dependent on subsistence and small-holder agriculture, and employment in the informal sector, including forest and common property resources.

PP8 Emphasizing that the empowerment of women is a critical factor in the eradication of poverty and that implementation of special measures aimed at empowering women can help to achieve this;

PP9 Recognizing that improving women's economic status also improves the economic status of their families and their communities, and thereby creates a multiplier effect for economic growth;

PP10 Recognizing that women should have equal opportunities to achieve economic independence, as discrimination against women and lack of equal access to education, training, financial services, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities and other economic resources, property and inheritance rights, and other legal protections, pose a major obstacle to sustainable economic growth, sustainable development and the sustainable economic advancement of women;

PP11 Emphasizing that full representation and full and equal participation of women in political, social, and economic decision-making in their societies enhances socio-economic development policies;

PP12 Recognizing that diligent and transparent application of the rule of law at the national, regional, and international levels, access to justice, democracy, the promotion of women's economic autonomy, and of non-discrimination policies are necessary elements to promote sustainable economic growth and sustainable development;

PP13 Reaffirming that the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms is essential for the empowerment of women and girls;

Aware that while globalization and liberalization processes have created employment opportunities for women in many countries, they have also made women, in particular in developing countries and least developed countries, more vulnerable to problems caused by increased economic volatility;

PP14 Recognizing that women's social and economic marginalization, and unequal rights can hamper their ability to fully and effectively participate in the economic life of their communities and societies and that women may need special support and legal empowerment to address the challenges, and take full advantage of the opportunities of globalization and market liberalization;

PP15 Highlighting that enhanced trade opportunities and market access for developing countries, including through trade liberalization, will improve the economic condition of those societies, including for women, which is of particular importance in rural communities;

PP16 Recognizing that the difficult socio-economic conditions that exist in many developing countries, in particular the least developed countries (LDCs), are linked to the feminization of poverty;

PP17 Recognizing and expressing concern that, the gender division of labour, especially the persistent unequal sharing of remunerated and unremunerated labour between women and men, and lack of support services continues to limit women's ability to benefit from economic opportunities, to gain economic autonomy, to access social security systems, and to build economic stability, including to withstand adverse economic environments and to preserve livelihoods, assets and revenue in times of crisis.

PP18 Acknowledging that people living in poverty, particularly women, need better access to financial services, including savings, insurance, remittance transfers, payment services, and credit, and that women have the proven ability to be diligent savers, prudent borrowers and investors, and successful entrepreneurs;

PP19 Recognizing that information and communications technology (ICT) can be a vital tool for training and empowering women;

PP21 Recognizing that access to basic affordable health care services, preventative health information and the highest standard of healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health, is critical to women's economic advancement and that lack of economic empowerment and independence increases women's vulnerability to a range of negative health consequences, including the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and that the neglect of women's reproductive rights severely limits their opportunities in public and private life, including the opportunity for education and economic and political empowerment;

PP22 Noting with concern that lack of economic empowerment increases women's vulnerability to all forms of violence;

PP23 Recognizing with appreciation all regional and national efforts in mainstreaming a gender perspective and empowerment of women towards the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, including the increasing efforts of the African countries in the implementation of the NEPAD;

OP1 Calls on Member States to strengthen efforts to implement national and international commitments that will advance women's equality;

OP2 Calls on Member States to promote gender mainstreaming in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases of all economic and social policies;

OP3 Calls on Member States to improve, promote and build capacity for the collection, dissemination and analysis of gender-sensitive statistical indicators, and reliable statistics that are disaggregated by sex and other relevant factors in order to facilitate better policy development, monitoring, and evaluation of the economic and social advancement of women;

OP4 Urges Member States to eliminate discrimination, ensure equal rights and access, and actively enable participation by women and girls in education and training at all levels including by developing programmes with the aim of equipping women with business, trade, ICT, and entrepreneurship skills;

OP5 Calls on Member States to undertake legislative, administrative and financial measures to create a strong enabling environment for all women entrepreneurs and women participating in the labour market, which includes a sound macro-economic framework; accountable systems for managing public resources; a business climate that attracts investment and promotes movement from the informal to the formal sector through, inter alia, competitive markets, enforceable contracts, the absence of corruption, regulatory policies that promote public confidence in the market, and reducing barriers to international trade within an appropriate time frame;

OP6 Urges Member States to design and revise laws to ensure that women are accorded full and equal rights to own land and other property, including through inheritance, and to undertake administrative reforms and other necessary measures to give women the right to credit, capital, appropriate technologies, and access to markets and information;

OP7 Calls on Member States to facilitate further development of the financial sector to increase women's access to and control over savings, credit, and other financial services, through incentives and development of intermediaries that serve the needs of women entrepreneurs on an equal opportunity basis in both rural and urban areas, and to fully include women in management, planning, and decision-making processes;

OP8 Calls on Member States to adopt policies and consider allocating resources, as appropriate, that support business and professional organizations, public agencies, non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, revolving loan funds, such as micro-finance funds, credit unions, and other women's grass-roots and self-help groups, in order to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas;

OP9 Calls on Member States to enhance access for women to information and communication technology (ICT)-based economic activities in all sectors, such as small and medium-sized business and home-based employment, information systems, and improved technologies, and to further develop tele-centers, community access points and business incubators;

OP10 Calls on Member States to enhance rural women's income-generating potential, noting the importance of the agricultural sector, particularly in the developing countries, and the importance of greater security of land tenure and property ownership for resource mobilization and environmental management; and consider special temporary measures to empower women in the rural sector to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of agricultural market liberalization;

OP11 Urges Member States to eliminate discrimination against women in labour markets, employment practices, and the work place, providing equal access for women in occupational categories and sectors where they are underrepresented, and providing equal opportunities with respect to the right to organize and participate in labour unions and collective bargaining, employment conditions, career development opportunities, and equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and take action to remove structural and legal barriers, as well as stereotypical attitudes to gender in work and training; and to eliminate pay differences based on gender through a multifaceted approach addressing underlying factors including sectoral and occupational segregation, education and training, job classification, and payment systems;

Calls on Member States to respect, promote and realize the principles contained in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and the Rights at Work and its Follow-up, and to consider ratification and full implementation of the International Labour Organizations Conventions which are particularly relevant to ensuring women's rights at work;

Calls on Member States to adopt temporary special measures where needed, aimed at accelerating de facto equality of opportunity between men and women in all economic and employment sectors and occupational categories and recognize the need for special supports for women to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by international trade and, where necessary, introduce preventive policy measures to avoid further marginalization of women;

OP13 Calls on Member States to recognize, develop and promote policies, including workplace policies and other supports such as maternity and parental benefits and leave, child care, and care for other dependents, that facilitate the reconciliation of employment and family responsibilities that recognize the importance of the value of non-market contributions that individuals and families make to society and the economy, ensuring the rights for women and men to decide freely and responsibly on the number, timing, and spacing of their children; encouraging men to share equally with women household, child care and other care-giving responsibilities, and also ensuring that women have equal rights to social security and other entitlements;

OP14 Call on Member States to strengthen the incentive role of the public sector as employer in order to develop an environment that effectively affirms and empowers women;

OP15 Calls on Member States and international organizations to promote policies and programmes that enhance economic and networking opportunities, develop and provide support services to specific groups of women who are disadvantaged or in a position of vulnerability;

OP16 Calls on Member States to recognize the significant contribution of migrant women to the economic development of both their country of origin and that of destination and, in accordance with national legislation, enhance their employment opportunities, taking into account their skills, and establish practices to reduce transfer costs of migrant workers' remittances;

OP17 Encourages all relevant United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments at their request, in strengthening their capacity to promote and support the economic advancement of women through, inter alia, employment and entrepreneurship practices and programmes that affirm and empower women;

OP18 Urges donors, and invites international financial institutions and regional development banks, within their respective mandates, to review and implement policies that support national efforts to increase resources to women, in particular in rural and remote areas;

OP19 Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Commission on the Status of Women at its 50th session.