accountability for violations of human rights of women and girls; and women’s full and equal participation in decision-making at all levels. The Commission recognizes that unless all dimensions of gender inequality are addressed, gender equality, the empowerment of women and the realization of human rights of women and girls cannot be achieved. desertification, deforestation, natural disasters and climate change owing to gender inequalities and the dependence of many women on natural resources for their livelihoods. 26. The Commission notes with regard to Millennium Development Goal 8 (developing a global partnership for development) that the development resources, including official development assistance, in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential and remain inadequate to the task. The Commission also notes that the global economic crisis and the shifts to austerity measures taken by some countries have impacted women and girls negatively, with a reduction in investment in social sectors. It also notes that a gender gap in access to information and communications technologies persists. 29. The Commission recognizes that progress on the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals for women and girls has been held back owing to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty and inequalities and disadvantages in access to resources and opportunities that limit women’s and girls’ capabilities, and growing gaps in equality of opportunity, discriminatory laws, policies, social norms, attitudes, harmful customary and contemporary practices and gender stereotypes. 27. The Commission is concerned that several indica- tors to monitor the Millennium Development Goals are not disaggregated by sex, age and other factors and therefore do not provide sufficient information about the situation of women and girls throughout their life cycle, including those on poverty, hunger, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development, while others are still limited, such as those related to goal 3, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. 30. The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against women and girls. It expresses deep concern that discrimination and violence against women and girls continue to occur in all parts of the world and that all forms of violence against women and girls are impediments to the development of their full potential as equal partners with men and boys in all aspects of life, as well as obstacles to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 28. The Commission is concerned that several critical issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women were not adequately addressed by the Millennium Development Goals such as, inter alia: violence against women and girls; child, early and forced marriage; women’s and girls’ disproportionate share of unpaid work, particularly unpaid care work; women’s access to decent work, the gender wage gap, employment in the informal sector, low-paid and gender-stereotyped work such as domestic and care work; women’s equal access to, control and ownership of assets and productive resources, including land, energy and fuel, and women’s inheritance rights; women’s sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences; universal health coverage; non-communicable diseases; 31. The Commission welcomes international momentum to address the issue of child, early and forced marriage. The Commission recognizes that child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice, and notes that its continued prevalence, among other factors, has slowed the achievement of several of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls. 32. The Commission emphasizes that the empower- ment of women is a critical factor in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including the eradication of poverty and hunger, and that the implementation of special measures, as appropriate, aimed at empowering women can help accomplish this. It recognizes that inequality is a concern for all countries and that it represents an urgent challenge with multiple implications for the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of women and girls. It also emphasizes that 7