had limited access to land, credit and technology, as well as to essential social services, such as education, training, health, and maternity and child care. Several representatives stressed the need to support agricultural development. Since women were the main producers of food in many regions, the transfer of agricultural technology to women was of crucial importance, as well as the support of small and medium-sized industries, in order to enhance income and employment opportunities in rural areas. 23. Many representatives and observers stressed that poverty might be caused by the insufficient education of girls and women, as education was a prerequisite for improving economic self-reliance. Efforts should be taken to eradicate illiteracy and to facilitate at all levels women’s access to all types of education and training. Better education also helped to reduce fertility rates, to improve health and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, and to increase productivity. 24. A number of representatives considered the problem of unemployment as the main source of poverty. It was stressed that poor women possessed only one asset to contribute to the economic process and to improve their standard of living, namely their labour. Efforts should be made to allow them to use their labour in a productive and optimally effective way, thereby ensuring gainful employment, and encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurial activity. The right to work should be accompanied by the provision of essential social services, in fields such as health, family planning, education and child care. 25. Many representatives expressed their commitment to strengthening cooperation particularly in the provision of women’s basic needs, such as primary education, health care, water and sanitation, in order to ensure their function as agents, as well as beneficiaries of development. It was recognized that investments channelled towards women often had a multiplier effect and that women invested their income in the well-being of their families. A few representatives urged all specialized agencies and bodies of the United Nations dealing with development programmes to take gender issues into account in their activities. 26. Many representatives described their experience in incorporating women’s concerns into national development planning. It was indicated that programmes assisting women to undertake small scale income-generating projects had led to an improvement of the situation of women together with that of their families. Such projects also included skill training, introduction to simple technologies and management training, as well as access to financial assistance. A number of representatives referred to the need for a wider development of labour-saving technologies, which reduced time constraints and women’s workload and improved their life in general. 27. It was stressed also that problems related to women migrant workers, prostitution and sex-tourism, as a result of poverty among women, could not be handled by a single country, but had to be dealt with at the international level. C. Peace: women and the peace process 28. Many representatives referred to women’s underrepresentation in decision-making bodies at all levels, especially in international negotiations related to the peace process, and emphasized that it was time to redress the situation, particularly since women were the main victims of armed conflicts. Others stressed the relationship between the low participation of women in public life and decision-making at the national level, and the lack of women in -73-