Today, more than 1 billion people live in extreme poverty; the overwhelming majority of them are women. In the past decade the number of women living in poverty has increased disproportionately to the number of men, and the risk for falling into poverty is higher for women than for men. Poverty is particularly acute among women living in rural households.

Women are poorer because they have fewer economic opportunities and less autonomy than men. Their access to economic resources, education and training, and support services is limited. They also have very little participation in the way decisions are made. The rigidity of socially prescribed roles for women and the tendency to scale back social services have increased the burden of poverty on women.

The Platform recommends action to:

Review, adopt and maintain macroeconomic policies and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty;

Revise laws and administrative practices in order to ensure women's equal rights and access to economic resources;

Provide women with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions;

Develop gender-based methodologies and conduct research to address the feminization of poverty.

Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving equality, development and peace. Though overall progress has been achieved in girls' enrolment at primary and secondary levels, girls in many countries still face discrimination due to customary attitudes, early marriages and pregnancies, lack of accessible schools, and inadequate and gender-biased teaching and educational materials. Girls continue to be denied quality education, especially at higher levels and in science and technology.

Investing in formal and non-formal education and training for girls and women has proved to be one of the best means of achieving sustainable development and economic growth.

The Platform recommends action to:

Ensure equal access to education. Governments are to commit themselves, by the year 2000, to universal access to basic education and completion of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary-school-age children.

They also agree to close the gender gap in primary- and secondary-school education by the year 2000, and to achieve universal education in all countries before the year 2015;

Eradicate illiteracy among women. Governments are to reduce the female illiteracy rate at least to half its 1990 level;

Improve women's access to vocational training, science and technology, and continuing education;

Develop non-discriminatory education and training;

Allocate sufficient resources for and monitor the implementation of educational reforms;

Promote lifelong education and training for girls and women.

Women's health involves their emotional, social and physical well-being. It is determined by the social, political and economic context of their lives, as well as by biology. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is vital for the life and well-being of women. It is also crucial to their ability to participate in all areas of public and private life. This right must be secured throughout their whole life cycle in equality with men.

The Platform defines reproductive health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and sexual health whose purpose is the enhancement of life and personal relations. Equal relationships between men and women in matters of sexual relations and reproduction require mutual respect, consent and shared responsibility. The Platform recognizes that reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic human rights of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly how many children they want to have, and when. They also have the right to obtain information and make decisions on reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

The Platform recommends actions to:

Increase women's access throughout the life cycle to appropriate, affordable and quality health care, information and related services;

Reduce maternal mortality by at least 50 per cent of the 1990 levels by the year 2000 and a further one half by the year 2015;

Encourage both women and men to take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour;

Undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health issues;

Increase resources and monitor follow-up for women's health.

In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subject to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture, in both public and private life. They often face rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation in the workplace. They are particularly vulnerable to systematic violence during war. Sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, sterilization and forced abortion, prenatal sex selection and female infanticide are also acts of violence. All such acts of violence violate and impair or nullify women's enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Such groups of women as migrant workers require special attention because they are particularly vulnerable to violence.

Lack of preventive and protective laws, and lack of access or ineffective enforcement by public authorities of such laws where they exist, only perpetuate and increase violence against women.

The Platform recommends actions to:

Adopt and implement legislation to end violence against women;

Work actively to ratify and implement all international agreements related to violence against women, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women;

Adopt new laws and enforce existing ones to punish members of security forces and police or any other State agents for acts of violence against women;

Set up shelters, provide legal aid and other services for girls and women at risk, and provide counselling and rehabilitation for perpetrators of violence against women;

Step up national and international cooperation to dismantle networks engaged in trafficking in women.

Peace is a prerequisite for the attainment of equality between women and men. Unfortunately, armed and other types of conflict still persist in many parts of the world. Aggression, foreign occupation and ethnic and other conflicts are an ongoing reality affecting women and men in nearly every region, aided by excessive military expenditures and the arms trade.

Though women rarely have any role in the decisions leading to armed conflicts, they work to preserve social order in the midst of the conflicts. They also make an important contribution as peace educators and resolvers of conflicts.

The Platform recognizes that rape, which is common during armed conflicts, is a crime, and under certain circumstances is an act of genocide. It condemns "ethnic cleansing" as a strategy of war and rape as one of its consequences. Such practices must be stopped and their perpetrators punished, it asserts.

The Platform recommends action to:

Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels;

Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments;

Work towards the universal ratification of the anti-mine Convention and Protocol by the year 2000;

Recognize the important roles and contributions of women in peace movements throughout the world;

Recognize the need to protect women living in situations of armed and other conflict or under foreign occupation, or who have become refugees or displaced.

Women contribute significantly to economic life everywhere. Their share in the labour force continues to rise, they are becoming more involved in micro-, small and medium enterprises and their income is becoming increasingly necessary to all households.

However, women are largely excluded from economic decision-making. They face low wages, poor working conditions and limited employment and professional opportunities. Though women contribute to development through paid as well as unpaid work, their unpaid work, such as domestic and community work, is not measured in quantitative terms and not valued in national accounts.

Discrimination in education and training, hiring, and remuneration and promotion, as well as inflexible working conditions, lack of access to productive resources and inadequate sharing of family responsibilities, contribute to restricted employment, economic and professional opportunities for women.

The Platform recommends action to:

Promote women's economic rights and independence, including access to employment and appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources;

Facilitate women's equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade;

Provide business services, training and access to markets, information and technology, particularly to low-income women;

Strengthen women's economic capacity and commercial networks;

Eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination;

Promote harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men.

Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple social justice or democracy. It is essential for achieving transparent and accountable government. It will also provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society.

Despite the widespread movement towards democratization in most countries, women remain largely underrepresented at most levels of government, especially in ministerial and other executive bodies or in reaching the target of having 30 per cent of decision-making positions held by women by 1995, as endorsed by the UNEconomic and Social Council. They have achieved little progress in attaining political power in legislative bodies. Globally, only 10 per cent of legislative positions, and a lower percentage of ministerial positions, are held by women.

Similarly, the underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions in the arts, culture, sports, the media, education, religion and law have prevented women from having a significant impact on many key institutions and policies.

The Platform recommends action to:

Ensure women's equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making in governmental bodies and public administration entities, including the judiciary, international and non-governmental organizations, political parties and trade unions;

Increase women's capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership positions.

Most countries have established institutions for the advancement of women. These are diverse in form and uneven in their effectiveness. They are often marginalized in national government structures, without a clear mandate, and lack adequate staff and resources as well as support from national political leadership. At the regional and international levels, mechanisms and institutions for the advancement of women encounter similar problems.

Many organizations have developed methodologies for gender-based policy analysis. Unfortunately, they are applied either sporadically or not at all.

The Platform recommends action to:

Create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies; ensure that responsibility for the advancement of women is vested in the highest possible level of Government;

Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects; ensure that before policy decisions are taken, an analysis of their impact on women and men is carried out.

Generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation; measure, in quantitative terms, unremunerated work that is outside national accounts.

All human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Their full and equal enjoyment by women and girls is a priority for Governments and the United Nations and is essential for the advancement of women. Governments must not only refrain from violating the human rights of all women but work actively to promote and protect these rights.

Recognition of the importance of women's human rights is reflected in the fact that three quarters of the UNMember States have become parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, the gap between the existence of rights and their effective enjoyment derives from a lack of commitment by Governments in promoting and protecting those rights and the failure of Governments to inform women and men alike about them.

The Platform recommends action to:

Promote and protect the human rights of women by fully implementing all human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

Review national laws to ensure implementation of all international human rights agreements;

Ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice;

Achieve legal literacy.

Today, many women work in the media, but few have reached positions at decision-making levels. In most countries, the media continue to project a negative and degrading image of women and do not reflect women's diverse lives and contributions to society. Violent and degrading or pornographic media products in particular affect women negatively.

Everywhere the media have the potential to make a far greater contribution to the advancement of women. They can create self-regulatory mechanisms that can help eliminate gender-biased programming. Women can also be empowered by having greater skills, knowledge and access to information technology.

The Platform recommends action to:

Increase women's participation in and access to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new technologies of communication; Governments should aim at gender balance through the appointment of women and men to all advisory, management, regulatory or monitoring bodies;

Promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media. The media organizations, NGOs and the private sector should promote the equal sharing of family responsibility and produce materials that portray diverse roles of women leaders;

Develop within mass media and advertising organizations professional guidelines and codes of conduct and other forms of self-regulation to promote the presentation of non-stereotyped images of women, consistent with freedom of expression.

Through their management and use of natural resources, women provide sustenance to their families and communities. As consumers and producers, caretakers of their families and educators, women play an important role in promoting sustainable development.

The deterioration of natural resources results in negative effects on the health, well-being and quality of life of the population at large, especially girls and women of all ages.

However, women, who are rarely formally trained as natural-resource managers, remain largely absent from decision-making and have their experience and skills too often marginalized. Despite the leadership role played by women's organizations, institutional coordination with national bodies is very weak.

The Platform recommends action to:

Involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels, including as managers, designers and planners, and as implementers and evaluators of environmental projects;

Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development;

Strengthen or establish mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels to assess the impact of development and environment policies on women.

In many countries, the girl-child faces discrimination from the earliest stages of life, through childhood and into adulthood. Due to harmful attitudes and practices, such as female genital mutilation, son preference, early marriage, sexual exploitation and practices related to health and food allocation, fewer girls than boys survive into adulthood in some areas of the world. Due to lack of protective laws, or failure to enforce such laws, girls are more vulnerable to all kinds of violence, particularly sexual violence. In many regions, girls face discrimination in access to education and specialized training.

More than 15 million girls aged 15 to 19 each year give birth and face pregnancy-related complications. Girls are also more vulnerable than boys to the consequences of unprotected and premature sexual relations, including HIV/AIDS.

The Platform recommends action to:

Eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl-child; enact and enforce appropriate legislation that guarantees equal right to succession and ensures equal right to inherit, regardless of the sex of the child;

Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls;

Eliminate discrimination against girls in education, skills development and training;

Eliminate discrimination against girls in health and nutrition;

Eliminate the economic exploitation of child labour and protect young girls at work;

Strengthen the role of the family in improving the status of the girl-child.

The Platform for Action establishes a set of actions that should lead to fundamental change. Immediate action and accountability are essential if the targets are to be met by the year 2000.

Governments are primarily responsible for their implementation. However, success depends also on various national, regional and international institutions, public and private, which require clear and strong mandates, authority and resources.

At the national level, commitment at the highest political level is essential for the successful implementation of the Platform. By the end of 1996, all Governments should have their own national strategies or plans of action. Governments should establish or improve effectiveness of national machineries for the advancement of women, and seek the active support of a broad range of other actors.

At the regional and sub-regional levels, the regional commissions of the United Nations should promote and assist national institutions. Regional institutions should develop and publicize regional plans of action for implementing the Platform within given time-frames and resources.

At the international level, all entities of the United Nations system should have the necessary resources and support to carry out follow-up activities. International financial institutions are encouraged to review and revise policies to ensure that their investments and programmes benefit women.

To ensure system-wide implementation of the Platform and to advise on gender issues, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is invited to establish a high-level post in his office. The Platform also calls for committing adequate financial resources from all sources and across all sectors.