E/2002/27 E/CN.6/2002/13 crucial. Managing environmental risk is part of the development process, with the ultimate goal being to create a participatory framework in which responsibilities between actors are balanced and all groups of the community, including older men and women, are involved. 13. The need for political will to change cultural values and overturn the current focus on short-term interests and nurture a shift towards long-term planning was stressed. Participants also highlighted the importance of developing codes of conduct for all parties engaged in public-private partnerships in order to increase the social responsibility of private companies, curb damaging practices and foster gender equality and sustainable development. 14. Adopting an integrated approach that links gender equality, disaster reduction and sustainable development is considered to be essential. Thus, participants stressed the need to listen to women in order to find means to address serious problems in a holistic way and to sensitize men to the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Furthermore, the importance of implementing existing international conventions, including on biological diversity and climate change, in a gender-sensitive manner, was accentuated. Participants underscored the importance of including a gender perspective in all international processes, especially in the preparations, work and outcome of the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, which provides an opportunity to create conditions for sustainable development and the mitigation of disasters, as well as in the review of the implementation of the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World. 60