E radicating poverty, including through the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle, in a globalizing world 4. The empowerment of women is the process by which women take control over their lives, acquiring the ability to make strategic choices. Empowerment is an important strategy to eradicate poverty. Special attention must be given to the situation of women and children, who often bear the greatest burden of extreme poverty. 1. The Commission on the Status of Women recalls and reiterates the strategic objectives and actions of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome document adopted at the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Gender equality, development and peace in the twenty-first century”, which emphasized the multidimensional nature of poverty and identified gender equality and the empowerment of women as critical factors in the eradication of poverty. It also recalls the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the development goals contained therein, as well as the resolve to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable. 5.  The Commission urges Governments and, as appropriate, the relevant funds and programmes, organizations and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, the international financial institutions, civil society, including the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders, to take the following actions to accelerate implementation of these strategic objectives to address the needs of all women: 2. The Commission on the Status of Women recognizes that, while it is the primary responsibility of States to attain economic and social development and to achieve the development and poverty eradication goals as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the international community should support the efforts of the developing countries to eradicate poverty and ensure basic social protection and to promote an enabling international environment. (a) Ensure that all actions to achieve the poverty eradication goals established in the Millennium Declaration include the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle; (b) Ensure that, in order to eradicate poverty and promote gender equality and democracy and strengthen the rule of law, both women and men are involved in decision-making, political agenda-setting and allocation of resources; 3. While globalization has brought greater economic opportunities and autonomy to some women, many others, owing to the deepening inequalities among and within countries, have been marginalized and deprived of the benefits of this process. Globalization should be fully inclusive and equitable. To that end, there is a strong need for policies and measures at the national and international levels, formulated and implemented with the full and effective participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to help them respond effectively to those challenges and opportunities. Further efforts at the national and international levels should be made to eliminate the obstacles facing the integration of developing countries in the global economy. (c) Ensure that women and men have equal access to full and effective participation in all processes and that a gender perspective is mainstreamed in development, trade and financial institutions; (d) Create an enabling environment and design and implement policies that promote and protect the enjoyment of all human rights — civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the right to development — and fundamental freedoms, as part of the efforts to achieve gender equality, development and peace; 1