E/2010/27 E/CN.6/2010/11 development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, in all fields and at all levels, Also stressing that gender equality and the political, social and economic empowerment of women and girls are fundamental elements in the reduction of their vulnerability to HIV and are essential to reversing the pandemic, Expressing its concern that the HIV and AIDS pandemic reinforces gender inequalities, that women and girls are disproportionately affected by the pandemic, that they are more easily infected, especially at an earlier age than men and boys, that they bear the disproportionate burden of caring for and supporting people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS and that they become more vulnerable to poverty as a result of the pandemic, Reaffirms the need for Governments, supported by the relevant actors, 1. including civil society and the private sector, to intensify national efforts and international cooperation in the implementation of the commitments contained in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS,19 the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS,20 the Beijing Platform for Action 23 and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development;18 2. Also reaffirms the commitment to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010, as set out in the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, and reaffirms the resolve to have halted, by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV and stresses the urgency of significantly scaling up efforts towards meeting these goals; Further reaffirms the commitment to achieve universal access to 3. reproductive health by 2015, as set out in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and in Millennium Development Goal 5, integrating this goal into strategies to attain internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration21 aimed at reducing maternal mortality, improving maternal health, reducing child mortality, promoting gender equality, combating HIV and AIDS and eradicating poverty; Stresses the need to significantly increase and coordinate political and 4. financial commitment to address gender equality and equity in national HIV and AIDS responses, and urges Governments to effectively reflect in their national policies, strategies and budgets the gender dimension of the pandemic, in line with the time-bound goals of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS; Urges Governments to take all necessary measures to create an enabling 5. environment for the empowerment of women and girls, to strengthen their economic independence and their right to property and inheritance, and to protect and promote their full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in order to enable them to protect themselves from HIV infection and to mitigate the impact of the pandemic; __________________ 23 8 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II. 10-30576