Emphasizing that wider implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal or comparable value would contribute to the greater economic autonomy of women, thus helping to alleviate the burden of low incomes and enabling women to make life choices more freely, Recognizing the special need to eliminate inequalities of income and discriminatory working conditions based on gender, particularly in the informal sector, Recognizing that implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value is an essential requirement for economic development, for achievement of social justice and for the better use of human resources, as well as a major component of the empowerment of women and their free participation in development, 1. Urges Governments and international, regional and national institutions, as appropriate: (a) To promote and pursue in greater depth research on the concept of work of equal value as a potential means for eliminating gender-based inequalities in remuneration, taking into account the particular circumstances and needs of developed and developing countries, as well as those of the economies in transition; (b) To disseminate as widely as possible the results of such research, including, in particular, their transmission to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-ninth and subsequent sessions; 2. Calls upon Governments: (a) To take appropriate legislative action; (b) To extend the coverage of legislation on equal remuneration, particularly to the informal sector; (c) To give full effect to those international instruments to which they have acceded on the subject of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value, whether through legislation, collective bargaining, judicial or arbitral decision or by any other means; (d) To take steps to make information available to women and men about their rights to equal pay for work of equal value, for example through legal literacy programmes; 3. Calls on employers and employees and their respective organizations to promote the concrete implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value; 4. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the International Labour Organization and other appropriate international and regional bodies, to submit to the Commission, at its thirty-ninth session, a report on the situation at the national level in respect of the implementation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, particular attention to be paid, to the extent possible, to the adequacy of mechanisms and procedures for facilitating such implementation. -24-