A/RES/62/206 Recognizing that access to basic affordable health care, preventive health information and the highest standard of health, including in the areas of sexual and reproductive health, is critical to women’s economic advancement, that lack of economic empowerment and independence increases women’s vulnerability to a range of negative consequences, including the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, and that the neglect of the full enjoyment of human rights by women severely limits their opportunities in public and private life, including the opportunity for education and economic and political empowerment, Reaffirming that gender equality is of fundamental importance for achieving sustained economic growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development, in accordance with the relevant General Assembly resolutions and United Nations conferences, and that investing in the development of women and girls has a multiplier effect, in particular on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth, in all sectors of the economy, especially in key areas such as agriculture, industry and services, Reaffirming also the significant contribution that women make to the economy, that women are key contributors to the economy and to combating poverty through both remunerated and unremunerated work at home, in the community and in the workplace and that the empowerment of women is a critical factor in the eradication of poverty, Recognizing that the difficult socio-economic conditions that exist in many developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, have resulted in the acceleration of the feminization of poverty, Noting that gender biases in labour markets and women’s lack of control over their own labour and earned income are also major factors in women’s vulnerability to poverty, and, together with women’s disproportionate responsibilities for domestic work, result in a lack of economic autonomy and influence in economic decision-making within households and in society at all levels, Recognizing that population and development issues, education and training, health, nutrition, the environment, water supply, sanitation, housing, communications, science and technology, and employment opportunities are important elements for effective poverty eradication and the advancement and empowerment of women, Recognizing also, in this context, the importance of respect for all human rights, including the right to development, and of a national and international environment that promotes, inter alia, justice, gender equality, equity, civil and political participation and civil, political and fundamental freedoms for the advancement and empowerment of women, Reaffirming the need to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by the earliest possible date and at all levels by 2015, and reaffirming that equal access to education and training at all levels, in particular in business, trade, administration, information and communications technologies and other new technologies and the need to eliminate gender inequalities at all levels are essential for gender equality, the empowerment of women and poverty eradication and to allow women’s full and equal contribution to, and equal opportunity to benefit from, development, Recognizing that poverty eradication and the achievement and preservation of peace are mutually reinforcing, and recognizing also that peace is inextricably linked to equality between women and men and to development, 2

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