Women and health
the importance of investing in women’s health for the
well being of women themselves and for the development of society as a whole;
The Commission on the Status of Women
6. Recognizes that lack of development is a major
obstacle for women in many countries and that the
international economic environment, through its
impact on national economies, affects the capacity
of many countries to provide and expand quality health services to women; further significant
obstacles include competing governmental priorities and inadequate resources;
1. Reaffirms the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted
by the Fourth World Conference on Women,
notably chapter IV.C on women and health,
the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women;
2. Recalls the Constitution of the World Health
Organization, which states that health is a state of
complete physical, mental and social well being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; that
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard
of health is one of the fundamental rights of every
human being without distinction of race, religion,
political belief, economic or social condition; and that
the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent upon
the fullest cooperation of individuals and States;
7.
roposes, in order to accelerate the
P
implementation of the strategic objectives of chapter IV.C of the Beijing
Platform for Action, that the following
actions be taken:
Actions to be taken by Governments, the United
Nations system and civil society, as appropriate
3. Requests States parties to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women to consider, when preparing their initial
and periodic reports under the Convention, including on article 12, general recommendations of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women;
1. U
niversal access, on a basis of equality
between women and men, to quality,
comprehensive and affordable health care and
health services and information by women
throughout the life cycle
4. Acknowledges that the realization by women of
their right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is an
integral part of the full realization by them of all
human rights, and that the human rights of women
and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and
indivisible part of universal human rights;
(a) Ensure universal access on a basis of equality
between women and men to appropriate, affordable and quality health care and health services for
women throughout the life cycle;
(b) In order to bridge the gap between commitments
and implementation, formulate policies favourable to investments in women’s health and intensify efforts to meet the targets identified in the
Platform for Action;
5. Acknowledges the link between women’s physical and
mental health throughout the life cycle and the level
of national development, including the availability of
basic social services such as health services, women’s status and degree of empowerment in society,
employment and work, poverty, illiteracy, ageing, race
and ethnicity, and violence in all its forms, in particular harmful attitudes and traditional or customary
practices affecting the health of women, as well as
(c) Ensure universal access for women throughout the
life cycle, on a basis of equality between women and
men, to social services related to health care, including
education, clean water and safe sanitation, nutrition,
food security and health education programmes;
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