A/RES/57/266 macroeconomic reform, a comprehensive solution to the external debt problem and increasing market access for developing countries; that efforts to reform the international financial architecture need to be sustained with greater transparency and the effective participation of developing countries in decision-making processes; and that a universal, rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system, as well as meaningful trade liberalization, can substantially stimulate development worldwide, benefiting countries at all stages of development; 4. Also reaffirms that good governance at the national level is essential for poverty eradication and sustainable development; that sound economic policies, solid democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people and improved infrastructure are the basis for sustained economic growth, poverty eradication and employment creation; and that freedom, peace and security, domestic stability, respect for human rights, including the right to development, and the rule of law, gender equality, market-oriented policies and an overall commitment to just and democratic societies are also essential and mutually reinforcing; 5. Stresses that the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) should contribute to achieving the targets of halving, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, through decisive national action and strengthened international cooperation as part of an integrated approach to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;5 6. Reaffirms that the eradication of poverty should be addressed in an integrated way, as set out in the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”),9 taking into account the importance of the need for the empowerment of women and sectoral strategies in such areas as education, development of human resources, health, human settlements, rural, local and community development, productive employment, population, environment, water and sanitation, food security, energy and migration, and the specific needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, in such a way as to increase opportunities and choices for people living in poverty and to enable them to build and to strengthen their assets so as to achieve development, security and stability, and in that regard encourages countries to develop their national poverty reduction policies in accordance with their national priorities, including, where appropriate, through poverty reduction strategy papers; 7. Stresses the importance of increasing access to and control over resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital, and social connections, for the poor, in particular women, and of improving access for all to basic social services; 8. Recognizes the major role that trade can play as an engine of growth and development and in eradicating poverty, and in that context stresses the need for expeditious and complete integration of developing countries and countries with economies in transition into the international trading system, in full cognizance of the opportunities and challenges of globalization and liberalization and taking into account the circumstances of individual countries, in particular the trade interests and development needs of developing countries; 9. Welcomes the decision contained in the Ministerial Declaration, adopted at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization,4 to place the needs and interests of developing countries at the heart of the work programme adopted at the _______________ 9 Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August– 4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex. 3