236. We reaffirm the vital role of women and the need for their full and equal participation and leadership in all areas of sustainable development, and decide to accelerate the implementation of our respective commitments in this regard as contained in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as Agenda 21, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
237. We recognize that, although progress on gender equality has been made in some areas, the potential of women to engage in, contribute to and benefit from sustainable development as leaders, participants and agents of change has not been fully realized, owing to, inter alia, persistent social, economic and political inequalities. We support prioritizing measures to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in all spheres of our societies, including the removal of barriers to their full and equal participation in decision-making and management at all levels, and we emphasize the impact of setting specific targets and implementing temporary measures, as appropriate, for substantially increasing the number of women in leadership positions, with the aim of achieving gender parity.
238. We resolve to unlock the potential of women as drivers of sustainable development, including through the repeal of discriminatory laws and the removal of formal barriers, ensuring equal access to justice and legal support, the reform of institutions to ensure competence and capacity for gender mainstreaming and the development and adoption of innovative and special approaches to address informal, harmful practices that act as barriers to gender equality. In this regard, we commit to creating an enabling environment for improving the situation of women and girls everywhere, particularly in rural areas and local communities and among indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities.
239. We commit to actively promote the collection, analysis and use of gender sensitive indicators and sex-disaggregated data in policy, programme design and monitoring frameworks, in accordance with national circumstances and capacities, in order to deliver on the promise of sustainable development for all.
240. We are committed to equal rights and opportunities for women in political and economic decision-making and resource allocation and to removing any barriers that prevent women from being full participants in the economy. We resolve to undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women equal rights with men to economic resources, including access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, credit, inheritance, natural resources and appropriate new technology.
241. We are committed to promote the equal access of women and girls to education, basic services, economic opportunities and health-care services, including addressing women’s sexual and reproductive health, and ensuring universal access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable modern methods of family planning. In this regard, we reaffirm our commitment to implement the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the key actions for the further implementation of that Programme of Action.
242. We recognize that gender equality and the effective participation of women are important for effective action on all aspects of sustainable development.
243. We support the work of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), in promoting and achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women in all aspects of life, including with respect to the linkages between gender equality and the empowerment of women and the promotion of sustainable development. We support the work of UN-Women in leading, coordinating and promoting the accountability of the United Nations system in this regard.
244. We invite donors and international organizations, including the United Nations system organizations, as well as the international financial institutions, regional banks and major groups, including the private sector, to integrate fully commitments and considerations on gender equality and the empowerment of women and to ensure the participation of women and effective gender mainstreaming in their decision-making and full programming cycle. We invite them to play a supportive role in the efforts of developing countries to integrate fully commitments and considerations on gender equality and the empowerment of women and ensure the participation of women and effective gender mainstreaming in their decision making, programme planning, budgeting and implementation, in accordance with national legislation, priorities and capacities.
