E/2005/27 E/CN.6/2005/11 1. Urges Governments, in planning for disaster preparedness and responding to natural disasters, to integrate a gender perspective as well as to ensure that women take an active and equal role in all phases of disaster management; 2. Calls on United Nations entities and international and local humanitarian relief organizations to strengthen the gender dimensions of their responses to disaster situations; 3. Strongly calls on Governments and other relevant bodies, in their responses to disaster situations, to meet the needs of affected populations such as food, clean water, sanitation, shelter and physical security, and to provide services such as health care, including reproductive health, psychological health and psychosocial support as well as education, taking into account the particular needs of women and girls; 4. Emphasizes the importance of developing and implementing sustainable poverty reduction programmes led by the Governments of affected countries that improve access to and control over productive resources for women and girls affected by disasters; 5. Underlines the need for the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action41 and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly42 in order to address the major challenges to women and girls in natural disasters and in their aftermath; 6. Also underlines the need to give special attention to the vulnerabilities and capacities of marginalized groups of women and girls; 7. Stresses the need to utilize the expertise, knowledge and networks of women to promote gender equality and social justice in the context of disaster relief, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction and to facilitate women’s access to media and information and communication technologies; 8. Strongly urges Governments, United Nations entities and other relevant bodies to take necessary measures, including the development and implementation of gender-sensitive codes of conduct, to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and all other forms of violence in the context of natural disasters and to provide appropriate care and support for women and girls who have been exposed to sexual abuse and other forms of violence; 9. Urges Governments, United Nations entities and other relevant bodies involved in post-disaster relief, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction to provide training on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women and girls and to promote gender balance and gender sensitivity among their representatives and staff; 10. Calls on Governments to involve women in all levels of decision-making in disaster situations, including in community-level welfare centres for displaced persons; 11. Also calls on Governments to promote and protect the full enjoyment of human rights by women and girls, including in the context of natural disaster relief, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts; 12. Encourages Governments and relevant bodies of the United Nations system, and invites donor countries, regional and international financial institutions 21