Emphasizing that the full participation of both women and men in all aspects of productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibilities for the care and nurturing of children and maintenance of the household, is required and in the interest of women, men and children, Emphasizing also that the empowerment of women and the improvement of their status - particularly with respect to education, health, economic opportunity and decision-making, and full political participation and representation - are highly important ends in themselves and are essential to reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and achieving fair and non-coercive population policies that respect women’s rights as human rights, Recognizing that, because gender discrimination often begins at the earliest stages of life, equal attention to the needs of the girl child is a necessary first step to ensuring that women realize their full potential and become equal partners in sustainable development, Emphasizing that one of the aims of family-planning programmes should be to establish, as appropriate, the widest possible choice for women in matters of procreation, Recognizing also the sovereign right of each country to establish its own population policies and programmes responding to country-specific needs, while mindful that national action or inaction in population may have effects that extend beyond national boundaries, 1. Reaffirms the goal of universal access to safe motherhood, to family planning and reproductive health services and facilities for those who wish to use them, to assistance in preventing and overcoming infertility, and to full and timely information about all aspects of reproductive health and sexuality; 2. Also reaffirms, as stated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 8/ that men and women have, on the basis of equality, the same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise those rights; 3. Encourages Governments and non-governmental organizations to promote and encourage the equal participation of women and men in all areas of family responsibility, so that both women and men can balance their domestic and public responsibilities; 4. Urges Governments, intergovernmental bodies and, where appropriate, non-governmental organizations to adopt and implement population and development policies that enhance social and economic equality; include popular participation; incorporate women equally in all levels of planning, decisionmaking and implementation; address the reproductive health needs of women and men of all ages; respect and protect women’s rights as human rights; and, where levels are still high, significantly reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates; 5. Urges Governments to make greater efforts to implement and enforce national laws and international conventions protecting women from all types of discrimination, including implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; -19-