A/RES/54/175 Page 4 7. Calls upon States to refrain from taking any unilateral measures that are not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations and that create obstacles to trade relations among States and impede the full realization of all human rights, including the right to development; 8. Urges States to eliminate all obstacles to development at all levels, inter alia, by pursuing the promotion and protection of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights and implementing comprehensive development programmes at the national level, integrating those rights into development activities and promoting effective international cooperation; 9. Reaffirms that international cooperation is a necessity deriving from the recognized mutual interest of all countries and, therefore, that such cooperation should be strengthened in order to support the efforts of developing countries to solve their social and economic problems and to fulfil their obligations to promote and protect all human rights; 10. Calls upon the international community to address the deepening technological, financial and productive gaps between the developed and some developing countries, and among some developing countries themselves, as well as the widening inequalities between the rich and the poor; 11. Affirms the need to apply a gender perspective in the implementation of the right to development, inter alia, by ensuring that women play an active role in the development process, and emphasizes that the empowerment of women and their full participation on a basis of equality in all spheres of society is fundamental for development; 12. Reaffirms that, in the full realization of the right to development, inter alia: (a) The rights to food and clean water are fundamental human rights and their promotion constitutes a moral imperative both for national Governments and for the international community; (b) The right to shelter is a basic human right, and in this regard the Assembly emphasizes the urgent need for national Governments and the international community to develop urgently, where necessary, and implement national and international strategies to provide this right; (c) Health is essential for sustainable development, and the Assembly calls upon all Governments to take reasonable legislative and other measures within their available resources to achieve the progressive realization of the right to health-care services and urges the international community to support the efforts of Governments in this regard; (d) Education is also an essential factor for the political, social, cultural and economic development of all people, and the Assembly recognizes that science and technology are important for ensuring growing levels of knowledge and must be put to use in the service of education; 13. Recommends proper consideration of the humanitarian effects of sanctions, in particular on women and children, which undermine and affect the right to development, with a view to minimizing those effects; 14. Stresses the need for the Secretary-General to continue to give high priority to the right to development, and urges all States to promote further the right to development, as a vital element in a balanced human rights programme; /...