E/2004/27 E/CN.6/2004/14 4. Urges Governments to take all necessary measures to empower women and strengthen their economic independence 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; 5. Also urges Governments to strengthen initiatives that would increase the capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the provision of health care and health services, including for sexual and reproductive health and through prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culturally and gender sensitive framework; 6. Further urges Governments to expand access to treatment, in a progressive and sustainable manner, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic diseases and effective use of antiretroviral medication and to promote access to low-cost effective drugs and related pharmaceutical products; 7. Calls upon Governments to intensify efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls in relation to HIV/AIDS, including through challenging stereotypes, stigmatization, discriminatory attitudes and gender inequalities, and to encourage the active involvement of men and boys in this regard; 8. Encourages the continued collaboration among the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies, as well as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other international organizations, to address and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, in particular in the context of emergency situations and as part of humanitarian efforts, and encourages the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in their work; 9. Also welcomes the commitment by the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to work with the international community to support developing countries in achieving the target of providing antiretroviral medicines to three million people infected with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005, the “3 by 5” target; 10. Encourages the ongoing work by the United Nations system in providing widespread information on the gender dimension of the pandemic and in raising awareness about the critical intersection between gender inequality and HIV/AIDS; 11. Emphasizes the need for the rapid scaling up of programmes for treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to encourage men to participate with women in programmes designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission; 12. Encourages the design and implementation of programmes to enable men, including young men, to adopt safe and responsible sexual and reproductive behaviour and to use effective methods to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; 13. Recognizes the importance of young men and women having access to information, education, including peer education and youth-specific HIV education, and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection, in full participation with young persons, parents, families, educators and health-care providers; 20