Commission on the Status of Women Sixty-third session 11 – 22 March 2019 Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls Agreed conclusions 6/10

    41. The Commission stresses the importance of strengthening the voice, agency, participation and leadership of women and girls as users and beneficiaries of social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure. It also acknowledges the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation and leadership of women at all levels of decision-making in the design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies in these sectors so that they support the empowerment of women and girls and address remaining gaps and biases.

      42. The Commission welcomes the major contributions made by civil society, including women’s and community-based organizations, feminist groups, women human rights defenders, girls’ and youth-led organizations and trade unions in placing the interests, needs and visions of women and girls, including those living in rural areas, on local, national, regional and international agendas, including the 2030 Agenda. It also recognizes the importance of having an open, inclusive and transparent engagement with civil society in the implementation of measures to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

43. The Commission reaffirms the importance of significantly increasing investments to close resource gaps for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls through, inter alia, the mobilization of financial resources from all sources, including domestic and international resource mobilization and allocation, the full implementation of official development assistance commitments and combating illicit financial flows, so as to build on progress achieved and strengthen international cooperation, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, bearing in mind that South-South cooperation is not a substitute for, but rather a complement to, North-South cooperation. It also affirms that accelerated investments in social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure, including in rural areas and outer islands are important for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

44. The Commission underscores that, for all countries, public policies and the mobilization and effective use of domestic resources, underscored by the principle of national ownership, are central to the common pursuit of sustainable development, including social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure, and recognizing that domestic resources are first and foremost generated by economic growth, supported by an enabling environment at all levels, including wellfunctioning, efficient and transparent tax systems.

45. The Commission recognizes the importance of a conducive external environment in support of national efforts towards the economic empowerment of women, through promoting the control, ownership, management and participation of women in all sectors and levels of the economy, which includes the mobilization of adequate financial resources, capacity-building and the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, which in turn would enhance the use of enabling technologies to promote women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment.

46. The Commission recognizes the importance of the full engagement of men and boys as agents and beneficiaries of change, and as strategic partners and allies in the promotion of women’s and girls’ access to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure and in the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.


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