Appendix A
Commission on the
Status of Women
Fifty-second session
9 March 2007 and 25 February – 7 March 2008
Agreed Conclusions on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women
Distr-
11 March 2008
The following agreed conclusions adopted by the Commission are brought to the attention
of the General Assembly as an input into the preparations for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development
to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus to be held in Doha from 29 November to 2 December 2008.
1. The
Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which emphasized the need for
political commitment to make available human and financial resources for the empowerment of women and that funding had to
be identified and mobilized from all sources and across all sectors to achieve the goals of gender equality and the empowerment
of women, and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, which called upon Governments to incorporate
a gender perspective into the design, development, adoption and execution of all policies and budgetary processes,
as appropriate, in order to promote equitable, effective and appropriate resource allocation
and establish adequate budgetary allocations to support gender equality and development programmes that enhance women’s
empowerment.
2.
The Commission reaffirms the declaration adopted on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference
on Women, which stressed that challenges and obstacles remained in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and pledged to take further
action to ensure their full and accelerated implementation.
3. The Commission recalls the outcome of the International
Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002, which affirms, inter alia, that a holistic approach
to the interconnected national, international and systemic challenges of financing for development - sustainable, gender-sensitive,
people-centered development - in all parts of the globe is essential.
4. The Commission also recalls the 2005 World Summit,
and reaffirms that the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome
of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, the International Conference on Population and Development and
other relevant United Nations summits and Conferences are essential contributions to the achievement of the internationally
agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, in particular, on the promotion
of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
5. The Commission reaffirms the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and takes
note of the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women towards the practical realization of
the principle of equality between women and men and between girls and boys.
6. The Commission also reaffirms that states have primary
responsibility for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and that gender mainstreaming and national
machineries are necessary and play a critical role in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,
and that for national machineries to be effective, a strong institutional framework with clear mandates, location at the highest
possible level, accountability mechanisms, partnership with civil society, a transparent political process, adequate
financial and human resources and continued strong political commitment are crucial.
7. The Commission recalls that the Platform for Action
recognizes that its implementation requires adequate financial resources committed at the national and international levels,
and that strengthening national capacities in developing countries in this regard requires striving for the fulfillment of
the agreed targets of overall official development assistance from developed countries as soon as possible. The Commission
also recognizes the importance of the full utilization of all sources of development finance.
8.
The Commission also recognizes the importance of gender mainstreaming as a tool for achieving gender equality and to
that end the need to promote the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres, and to strengthen the capabilities of the United
Nations system in the area of gender.
9. The
Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms that gender equality and the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of
human rights and fundamental freedoms for all are essential for advancing development, peace and security, and stresses that
peace is inextricably linked to equality between women and men and to development.
10.
The Commission reaffirms that the promotion and protection of, and respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms
of women, including the right to development, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, should be
mainstreamed into all policies and programmes aimed at the eradication of poverty, and reaffirms as well the need to take
measures to ensure that every person is entitled to participate in, to contribute to and to enjoy economic, social, cultural
and political development.
11.
The Commission notes the growing body of evidence which demonstrates that investing in women and girls has a multiplier
effect on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth, and that increasing women’s economic empowerment is
central to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and to the eradication of poverty, and recognizes that adequate
resources need to be allocated at all levels, mechanisms and capacities need to be strengthened and gender-responsive policies
need to be enhanced to fully utilize the multiplier effect.
12. The Commission further reaffirms the goals
aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality, combating HIV/AIDS and improving maternal health by 2015 as contained in the
Millennium Development Goals, and the goal of achieving universal access to reproductive health established by the International
Conference on Population and Development, which are critical to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women
and girls.
13.
The Commission recalls the recognition in the Beijing Platform for Action of the role of the United Nations, including
funds, programmes and specialized agencies, in particular the special roles of the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), within their respective
mandates, and recognizes the role of the Office of the Special
Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and the Division for the Advancement of Women, as part of the United Nations system, in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of
women and therefore in the implementation of the Platform for Action.
14. The Commission further recalls that the Bretton Woods Institutions,
other financial institutions, and the private sector also have an important role to play in ensuring that financing for development
promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
15. The Commission recognizes the importance of non-governmental organizations, as
well as other civil society actors, in advancing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
16. The Commission
is concerned that insufficient political commitment and budgetary resources pose obstacles to promoting gender equality and
women’s empowerment and continue to undermine the effectiveness and sustainability of both national mechanisms for the
advancement of women and women’s organizations in advocating for, implementing, supporting and monitoring the effective
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the
General Assembly.
17.
The Commission is concerned about the growing
feminization of poverty, and reiterates that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and
an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in particular for developing countries, including the least developed
countries. In this regard, the Commission stresses
that achieving the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals is a global effort that
requires investing sufficient resources for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
18. The Commission remains concerned about the lingering negative
consequences, including for women, of structural adjustment programmes, stemming from inappropriate design and application.
19.
The Commission expresses its concern at under-resourcing in the area of gender equality in the United Nations system,
including UNIFEM and INSTRAW, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and the Division
for the Advancement of Women, and stresses the need for more effective tracking of resources allocated to and spent on enhancing
gender equality and the empowerment of women across the United Nations system, including on gender mainstreaming.
20. The Commission
states that the global commitments for the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of women since the Fourth World
Conference on Women, including through the Monterrey Consensus, have yet to be fully implemented.
21. The Commission urges Governments and/or, as appropriate, the relevant
funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system within their respective mandates, and invites the
international financial institutions, civil society and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, bearing in
mind national priorities, to take the following actions:
e.
Integrate a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting of all national
economic policies, strategies and plans, in a coordinated manner across all policy areas, including in national development,
social protection and poverty reduction strategies, and involve national mechanisms for the advancement of women and women’s
organizations in the design and development of such policies, strategies and plans with the goal of gender equality and the
empowerment of women;
f.
Incorporate gender perspectives into all economic policy-making and increase participation of women in economic governance
structures and processes to ensure policy coherence and adequate resources for gender equality and the empowerment of women;
g.
Give priority to assisting the efforts of developing countries, including the least developed countries, to ensure
the full and effective participation of women in deciding and implementing development strategies and integrating gender concerns
into national programmes, including by providing adequate resources to operational activities for development in support of
the efforts to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women;
h. Remove barriers and allocate adequate resources to
enable the full representation and full and equal participation of women in political, social and economic decision-making
and in administrative entities, in particular those responsible for economic and public finance policies, so as to guarantee
the full and equal participation of women in the formulation of all plans, programmes and policies;
i. Strengthen
the capacities and mandates of institutional frameworks and accountability mechanisms, including of national machineries for
the advancement of women, and ensure that they are continuously and adequately resourced and given the necessary authority
to carry out their critical role in advocating for, supporting, monitoring and evaluating the integration of gender perspectives
in all policy areas and the implementation of gender equality plans, programmes and legislation;
j. Strengthen
a coordinated and institutionalized dialogue between national mechanisms for the advancement of women, relevant governmental
agencies and entities, including ministries of finance and planning and their gender focal points, and women’s organizations,
to ensure the integration of gender perspectives into all national development policies, plans and budgets;
k. Cost and adequately
resource national policies, programmes, strategies and plans for gender equality and the empowerment of women, including gender
mainstreaming and affirmative action strategies, and ensure that they are incorporated into overall national development strategies
and reflected in relevant sector plans and budgets to achieve international and regional commitments for gender equality,
including Millennium Development Goal 3;
l. Allocate resources for capacity development
in gender mainstreaming in all ministries and particularly within national women’s machineries and finance ministries,
and, as appropriate, local authorities, to ensure that domestic resource mobilization and allocation are carried out in a
gender-responsive manner, and reinforce national efforts in capacity-building in social and gender budget policies;
m. Improve,
systematize and fund the collection, analysis and dissemination of sex-disaggregated and gender-related data, including disaggregated
by age and other factors, and on women’s contribution to the care economy, and develop necessary input, output and outcome
indicators at all levels to measure progress in financing gender equality and the empowerment of women, in particular in introducing
and implementing gender-responsive approaches to public finance;
n. Undertake and disseminate gender analysis of policies
and programmes related to macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment, external debt problems, taxation, investments, employment,
markets and all relevant sectors of the economy and support and facilitate research in these areas, with a view to achieving
the objectives of the Platform for Action and with respect to their impact on poverty, on inequality and particularly on women,
as well as to assess their impact on family well-being and conditions and adjust them, as appropriate, to promote more equitable
distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services;
o. Carry out gender-sensitive analysis of revenues and
expenditures in all policy areas, take into account the review and evaluation results in budget planning, allocation, and
revenue-raising so as to enhance the contribution of government expenditures to accelerating the full and
effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action;
p. Develop and implement,
where appropriate, methodologies and tools, including national indicators, for gender-responsive planning and budgeting, in
order to systematically incorporate gender perspectives into budgetary policies at all levels, with a view to promoting gender
equality in all policy areas;
q.
We urge developed countries that have not yet done so in accordance with their commitments, make concrete efforts towards
meeting the target of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product for official development assistance to developing countries
and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of their gross national product to least developed countries, and we encourage developing countries
to build on the progress achieved in ensuring that official development assistance is used effectively to help meet development
goals and targets, inter alia, to assist them in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women;
r.
Ensure the effective and equitable participation of developing countries in the formulation of financial standards
and codes, with a view to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women;
s. Strengthen
the focus and impact of development assistance specifically targeting gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in
line with national development priorities through both gender mainstreaming and funding of targeted activities and enhanced
dialogue on those issues between donors and developing countries, and strengthen mechanisms to effectively measure resources
allocated to incorporating gender perspectives in all sectors and thematic areas of development assistance;
t. Encourage
the integration of gender perspectives in aid modalities and efforts to enhance aid delivery mechanisms;
u. 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 official
development assistance debt cancellation, in order to help them to finance programmes and projects targeted at development,
including the advancement of women;
v.
Encourage international financial institutions to continue to take gender perspectives into account in the design of
loans, grants, projects, programmes and strategies;
w. Identify and address the differential impact of trade policies
on women and men and incorporate gender perspectives in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of trade policies,
develop strategies to expand trade opportunities for women producers, and facilitate the active participation of women in
national, regional and international trade decision-making structures and processes;
x. Undertake gender-sensitive assessments of national
labour laws, policies and programmes, and establish gender-sensitive policies and guidelines for employment practices, including
those of transnational corporations, building on appropriate multilateral instruments, including the International Labour
Organization conventions;
y.
Allocate adequate resources for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in the workplace, including
unequal access to labour market participation and wage inequality, as well as reconciliation of work and private life for
both women and men;
z. Establish and fund active labour market policies
devoted to the promotion of full and productive employment and decent work for all, including the full participation of women
in all international and national development and poverty eradication strategies, the creation of more and better jobs for
women, both urban and rural, and their inclusion in social protection and social dialogue;
aa. Take measures to develop,
finance, implement, monitor and evaluate gender-responsive policies and programmes aimed at promoting women’s entrepreneurship
and private initiative, including through microfinance, microcredit and cooperatives, and assist women-owned businesses in
participating in and benefiting from, inter alia, international trade, technological innovation and transfer, investment,
and knowledge and skills training;
bb.
Fully maximize the role of, as well as ensure access to, microfinance tools, including microcredit, for poverty eradication,
generation of employment and especially for the empowerment of women, encourage the strengthening of existing and emerging
microcredit institutions and their capacities, including through the support of international financial institutions, and
ensure that best practices are widely disseminated;
cc.
Undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including
the rights to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies;
dd. Take all
appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women and increase their access to and control over bank loans, mortgages
and other forms of financial credit, giving special attention to poor, uneducated women; support women’s access to legal
assistance; encourage the financial sector to mainstream gender perspectives in their policies and programmes; ensure women’s
full and equal access to training and productive resources and social protection; and facilitate equal access of women, particularly
women in developing and least developed countries, to markets at all levels;
ee. Strengthen education,
health, and social services and effectively utilize resources to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and
ensure women’s and girls’ rights to education at all levels and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard
of physical and mental health, including sexual and reproductive health, as well as quality, affordable and universally accessible
health care and services, particularly primary healthcare;
ff. Address the overall expansion and feminization of
the HIV/AIDS pandemic, taking into account that women and girls bear a disproportionate share of the burden imposed by the
HIV/AIDS crisis, that they are more easily infected, that they play a key role in care and that they have become more vulnerable
to violence, stigma and discrimination, poverty and marginalization from their families and communities as a result of the
HIV/AIDS crisis and, in this regard, scale up significantly efforts towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive
prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010, and to ensure these efforts integrate and promote gender equality;
gg. Ensure
adequate financing for women’s full, equal and effective participation at all levels in conflict prevention, management
and resolution, peace negotiations and peacebuilding, including adequate national and international funding to ensure proper
access to programmes for women and girls on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and other relevant programmes;
hh. Reduce excessive military
expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production and acquisition, taking
into consideration national security requirements, so as to permit the possible allocation of additional funds for social
and economic development, including for gender equality and the advancement of women;
ii. Ensure that
adequate resources are allocated for activities targeting persistent serious obstacles to the advancement of women in situations
of armed conflicts and conflicts of other types, wars of aggression, foreign occupation, colonial or other alien domination
and terrorism;
jj.
Integrate a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of national environmental
policies, strengthen mechanisms and provide adequate resources to ensure women’s full and equal participation in decision-making
at all levels on environmental issues, in particular on strategies related to the impact of climate change on the lives of
women and girls;
kk. Strengthen coordination, accountability,
effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations system for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women,
including through more effective mainstreaming in all aspects and enhancing its capacity to effectively assist States, upon
their request, in implementing their programmes on gender equality and the empowerment of women, and, to that end, make adequate
and reliable human and financial resources available;
ll. Create and enhance a supportive environment
for the mobilization of resources by non-governmental organizations, particularly women’s organizations and networks,
to enable them to increase their effectiveness and to contribute to gender equality and the empowerment of women, including
through assisting in the implementation of the Platform for Action and participating in policy processes and programme delivery;
mm. Provide assistance to States parties to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, upon their request, to support the implementation of States parties’ obligations
under the Convention.
22.
The Commission invites the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to continue to give,
while exercising its mandated functions, due consideration to financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women in
its work.
23.
The Commission requests Member States, with a view to strengthening financing for gender equality and the empowerment
of women, to integrate gender perspectives in the preparations for and outcome of the Follow-up International Conference on
Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, to be held in Qatar in 2008.
