10. The Commission reaffirms that the promotion and protection of, and respect for, the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls, including the right to development, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, are crucial for women’s economic empowerment and should be mainstreamed into all policies and programmes aimed at the eradication of poverty and women’s economic empowerment, and also reaffirms the need to take measures to ensure that every person is entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, and that equal attention and urgent consideration should be given to the promotion, protection and full realization of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. 14. The Commission strongly condemns violence against women and girls in all its forms in public and private spaces, including harassment in the world of work, including sexual harassment, and sexual and gender-based violence, domestic violence, trafficking in persons and femicide, among others, as well as harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, and recognizes that these forms of violence are major impediments to the achievement of women’s economic empowerment and their social and economic development, often resulting in, inter alia, absenteeism, missed promotions and job losses, thereby hampering women’s ability to enter, advance and remain in the labour market and make contributions commensurate with their abilities, and also recognizes that such violence can impede economic independence and impose direct and indirect short- and long-term costs on society and individuals including, as relevant, lost economic output and the psychological and physical impact thereof, as well as expenses relating to health care, the legal sector, social welfare and specialized services, and further recognizes that women’s economic autonomy can expand their options for leaving abusive relationships. 11. The Commission also recognizes that structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment throughout their life cycle in the changing world of work, including as regards their terms and conditions of employment, recruitment, retention, re-entry, promotion and progression to management or senior positions, retirement and dismissal, can be compounded by multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination in the private and public spheres, all of which can be exacerbated during economic, financial and humanitarian crises, armed conflict and post-conflict situations, natural and man-made disasters, and refugee and internal displacement settings. 15. The Commission acknowledges that structural barriers to gender equality and gender-based discrimination persist in labour markets worldwide, which impose greater constraints on women than on men in balancing work and family responsibilities and that those structural barriers need to be eliminated in order for women to be able to participate fully in society and equally in the world of work. It also recognizes that progress in achieving women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work has been insufficient, impeding the realization of women’s full potential and the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. 12. The Commission recognizes the importance of fully engaging men and boys, as agents and beneficiaries of change, for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. It stresses the role of men as allies in the realization of women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work and in the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls. 13. The Commission acknowledges the important role of national machineries for the advancement of women and girls, the relevant contribution of national human rights institutions, where they exist, and the important role of civil society in promoting the economic empowerment of women and their full and productive employment and decent work, as well as in advancing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 16. The Commission recognizes that the sharing of family responsibilities creates an enabling family environment for women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work, which contributes to development, that women and men make a significant contribution to the welfare of their family, and that, in particular, women’s contribution to the home, including unpaid care and domestic work, which is still not adequately recognized, generates human and social capital that is essential for social and economic development. 5