· Create gender mainstreaming mechanisms within all policy-making bodies so that women’s ability to enjoy their rights is strengthened by all policies and programmes, including through gender-sensitive budgeting; · Support efforts to create an international criminal court that integrates a gender perspective in its statute and functioning, enabling a gender-sensitive interpretation and application of the statute; · Mainstream a gender perspective into all economic and social policies in order to promote the human rights of women and girls, including their right to development; · Adopt measures to ensure by appropriate means that women enjoy equal opportunities to participate in decision-making processes, including parliamentary and other elected assemblies. Actions to be taken by States parties to human rights instruments: · Promote gender balance in the nomination and election of independent experts to treaty bodies having expertise and sensitivity in regard to gender issues in the field of human rights, giving due consideration to equitable geographical distribution and different legal systems; · Take note of the report of the United Nations Secretariat to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women35 and encourage similar studies by other treaty bodies, as well as by the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, especially with respect to their effect on women’s and girls’ enjoyment of their human rights; · Ensure that their periodic reports to treaty monitoring bodies mainstream a gender perspective. Within the United Nations system: · Urge the Commission on Human Rights to ensure that all human rights mechanisms and procedures fully incorporate a gender perspective in their work, within their respective mandates; · The Administrative Committee on Coordination Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality should, as planned, conduct a workshop to clarify the understanding of a rights-based approach to women’s empowerment and advancement and to gender equality, drawing on the work already being done in this regard by the United Nations Development Fund for Women and others; · The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat should strengthen and improve coordination in general human rights activities within their respective mandates and continue to prepare the joint annual work plan; 35 CEDAW/C/1997/4. -24-