The General Assembly,
 
     Recalling its resolutions 40/204 of 17 December 1985, 42/178 of 11
December 1987 and 44/171 of 19 December 1989, as well as all other relevant
Assembly resolutions on the integration of women in development, and the
resolutions adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women on the
integration of women in development,
 
     Bearing in mind the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women and
other recent major United Nations conferences and summits,
 
     Recognizing the significant contribution that women make to economic
activities and the major force that they represent for change and development
in all sectors of the economy, especially in key areas, such as agriculture,
industry and services,
 
     Reaffirming that women are key contributors to the economy and to
combating poverty through both remunerated and unremunerated work at home, in
the community and in the workplace, and that the empowerment of women is a
critical factor in the eradication of poverty,
 
     Recognizing that the difficult socio-economic conditions that exist in
many developing countries have resulted in the rapid feminization of poverty,
especially in rural areas and in female-headed households,
 
     Aware that the continued discrimination against women, their continued
lack of equal access to education and training, and their lack of control over
land, capital, technology and other areas of production impede their full
contribution to, and opportunity to benefit from, development,
 
     Recognizing that the informal sector is a major source of
entrepreneurship and employment for women in many developing countries,
 
     Noting the importance of the organizations and bodies of the United
Nations system in facilitating the advancement of women in development,
 
     1.   Welcomes the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action by the Fourth World Conference on Women;
 
     2.   Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the effective
mobilization and integration of women in development;
 
     3.   Calls for the urgent implementation of the Platform for Action
adopted at Beijing as well as the relevant provisions contained in the outcome
of all other major United Nations conferences and summits;
 
     4.   Stresses that a favourable and conducive international and national
economic and financial environment and a positive investment climate are
necessary for the effective integration of women in development;
 
     5.   Also stresses the importance of developing national strategies for
promoting sustainable and productive entrepreneurial activities to generate
income among disadvantaged women and women living in poverty;
 
     6.   Calls upon all Governments and all actors of society to implement
the commitment made in Beijing to create an enabling environment through,
inter alia, removing discriminatory barriers and ensuring the full and equal
participation of women in economic activities through, inter alia, the
adoption of gender-sensitive policies and legal measures and the provision of
other necessary structures;
 
     7.   Urges all Governments to ensure women's equal rights and access to
economic resources, and to increase women's access to credit by instituting
innovative lending practices, including practices that integrate credit with
services and training for women, and that provide flexible credit facilities
to women, in particular rural women, women in the informal sector, young women
and women who lack access to traditional sources of collateral;
 
     8.   Urges Governments to develop and promote methodologies for
incorporating a gender perspective into all aspects of policy-making,
including economic policy-making;
 
     9.   Calls upon the United Nations system, in particular its funds and
programmes and specialized agencies, and all other relevant organizations to
promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming gender perspective in
the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies and programmes;
 
     10.  Urges the international community, the United Nations system and
other relevant organizations to give priority to assisting developing
countries' efforts to ensure the full and effective participation of women in
deciding and implementing development strategies, including through increased
access to health care, capital, education, training and technology, as well as
by women's wider participation in decision-making;
 
     11.  Urges multilateral donors, international financial institutions and
regional development banks to review and implement policies in support of
national efforts to ensure that a higher proportion of resources reach women,
in particular in rural and remote areas;
 
     12.  Requests the United Nations development system to work towards
establishing a more coherent approach to its support for women's income-
generating activities, in particular credit schemes;
 
     13.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session a sub-item entitled "Effective mobilization and integration of women
in development";
 
     14.  Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at
its fifty-second session a report on action taken to implement the present
resolution.