E/2002/27 E/CN.6/2002/13 3. While globalization has brought greater economic opportunities and autonomy to some women, many others, owing to the deepening inequalities among and within countries, have been marginalized and deprived of the benefits of this process. Globalization should be fully inclusive and equitable. To that end, there is a strong need for policies and measures at the national and international levels, formulated and implemented with the full and effective participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to help them respond effectively to those challenges and opportunities. Further efforts at the national and international levels should be made to eliminate the obstacles facing the integration of developing countries in the global economy. 4. The empowerment of women is the process by which women take control over their lives, acquiring the ability to make strategic choices. Empowerment is an important strategy to eradicate poverty. Special attention must be given to the situation of women and children, who often bear the greatest burden of extreme poverty. 5. The Commission urges Governments and, as appropriate, the relevant funds and programmes, organizations and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, the international financial institutions, civil society, including the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders, to take the following actions to accelerate implementation of these strategic objectives to address the needs of all women: (a) Ensure that all actions to achieve the poverty eradication goals established in the Millennium Declaration include the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle; (b) Ensure that, in order to eradicate poverty and promote gender equality and democracy and strengthen the rule of law, both women and men are involved in decision-making, political agenda-setting and allocation of resources; (c) Ensure that women and men have equal access to full and effective participation in all processes and that a gender perspective is mainstreamed in development, trade and financial institutions; (d) Create an enabling environment and design and implement policies that promote and protect the enjoyment of all human rights — civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the right to development — and fundamental freedoms, as part of the efforts to achieve gender equality, development and peace; (e) Evaluate the relationship between the empowerment of women and poverty eradication in different stages of women’s life cycle and analyse the intersection of gender and other factors, reflect the implications for policies and programmes and compile and widely disseminate good practices and lessons learned; (f) Strengthen efforts to mainstream gender perspectives and the empowerment of women through the whole policy process, from the identification to the formulation, implementation, evaluation and follow-up of macroeconomic policies, as well as economic and social policy formulation and implementation and poverty eradication policies, programmes, development frameworks and strategies; (g) Establish or improve gender-specific analysis of poverty and strengthen institutional capacities at all levels, including relevant national machineries, in order to undertake gender analysis in poverty eradication initiatives by, inter alia, the allocation of sufficient resources; 9