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 9/10

Make infrastructure work for women and girls 

bbb. Develop and adopt gender-responsive strategies on mitigation and adaptation to climate change to support the resilience and adaptive capacities of women and girls to respond to and recover from adverse impacts of climate change, including natural disasters and extreme weather events through the provision of essential infrastructure, social protection and public services that are sustainable as well as appropriate financing technology, humanitarian assistance, forecast and early warning systems and through, inter alia, the promotion of their health and well-being, as well as access to sustainable livelihoods, and the provision of adequate resources while ensuring women’s meaningful participation in decision-making, at all levels, on environmental issues, in particular on strategies and policies related to the impacts of climate change, and by ensuring the integration of the specific needs of women and girls into humanitarian responses to natural disasters, into the planning, delivery, implementation and monitoring of disaster risk reduction policies, in particular, urban and rural infrastructure and land-use planning and resettlement and relocation planning during the aftermath of natural disasters, and into sustainable natural resources management; ensure that social protection systems, public services and infrastructure are sustainable through the integration of climate-smart dimensions and tools, including accurate and downscaled climate services developed in participation with the sectors involved, connecting science, policy and practice;


ccc. Increase access of women to digital technologies to enhance their productivity and mobility in the labour market; enhance efficiency, accountability and transparency of social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure through enhanced use of information and communications technologies for the benefit of women and girls, including for those hardest to reach; work towards closing digital gender divides and promote equal access to information and communication technologies and internet for women and girls, and explore appropriate ways to address any potential negative impact of new technologies on gender equality; and ensure that programmes, services and infrastructure are adaptable and suited to meet different positive cultural values and technological barriers, including literacy;

ddd. Conduct systematic and transparent assessments of the gender and environmental impacts of infrastructure projects with the full, equal and effective participation of women and girls through social dialogues, thereby promoting the enjoyment of their human rights;

eee. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water as well as access to safe and affordable drinking water and adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all women and girls, as well as for menstrual hygiene management, including for hygiene facilities and services, in homes, schools, temporary shelters for refugees, migrants or people affected by natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies and armed conflicts and post-conflict situations and all other public and private spaces; take measures to reduce the time spent by women and girls on collecting household water; address the negative impact of inadequate, inequitable access to  drinking water and sanitation, and energy services on the access of girls to education; and promote women’s full, effective and equal participation in decision-making on water and sanitation;

fff. Ensure that every household has access to adequate levels of affordable and reliable electricity through appropriate grid and decentralized off-grid solutions, including from renewable energy sources, that are adequately maintained and support women’s and girls’ specific livelihood needs;

ggg. Provide targeted support and incentives for women’s participation and leadership as users and producers of energy; and strengthen the provision of clean fuel for cooking to curb indoor air pollution which disproportionately affects women and children;

hhh. Integrate a gender perspective into planning and use of public spaces, design and development of smart cities, communities and rural areas and into intelligent mobility planning processes; and promote the mobility and empowerment of women and girls, including those with disabilities and those who are homeless, and promote inclusive societies including through adequate housing and in doing so ensure that public urban, rural and peripheral transport, including land and water transport systems and infrastructure are sustainable, accessible, safe, affordable and genderresponsive, that take into account the different needs of women and men, girls and boys and are adapted to be used by persons with disabilities and older persons;

iii. Promote safe public spaces and improve the security and safety of women and girls through gender-responsive rural and urban planning and infrastructure, including sustainable, safe, accessible and affordable public transportation systems, and prevent and eliminate violence and harassment against women on the journey to and from work, and protect women and girls from


being physically threatened or assaulted, including from sexual violence, while collecting household water and fuel, and when accessing sanitation facilities outside their homes or practicing open defecation;

Mobilize resources, strengthen women’s participation and improve evidence

jjj. Take steps to significantly increase investment to close resource gaps, for example through the mobilization of financial resources from all sources, including public, private, domestic and international resource mobilization and allocation, including by enhancing revenue administration through modernized, progressive tax systems, improved tax policy, more efficient tax collection and increased priority on gender equality and the empowerment of women in official development assistance (ODA) to build on progress achieved, and to ensure that ODA is used effectively to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

kkk. Take steps in the design, implementation and pursuit of fiscal policies and gender responsivebudgeting to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, by, inter alia, optimizing fiscal expenditures to extend social protection coverage, facilitating greater access to social protection and financial and business services, including credit for women, and promoting costing and cost-benefit calculation of the investments needed to ensure access to social protection systems, public services, and sustainable infrastructure, bearing in mind that these policies and budget play a critical role in reducing poverty and inequality and supporting inclusive growth;

lll. Encourage the international community and promote partnerships to support developing countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, the poor and people in vulnerable situations, with a view to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, improving tax systems, promote access to financial services, enhance productive capacity, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote full and productive employment and decent work for all;

mmm. Urge developed countries to fully implement their respective official development assistance commitments, including the commitment made by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of their gross national income for official development assistance to developing countries and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of their gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, and encourage developing countries to build on the progress achieved in ensuring that ODA is used effectively to help meet development goals and targets, to help them, inter alia, to promote social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls;

nnn. Strengthen international and regional 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, and invite all States to enhance South-South and triangular cooperation focusing on shared development priorities, with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in government, civil society and the private sector, while noting that national
ownership and leadership in this regard are indispensable for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and to improve their lives and well-being;

ooo. Support the important role of civil society actors in promoting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women; take steps to protect such actors, including women human rights defenders, and to integrate a gender perspective into creating a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights and to prevent violations and abuses against them in rural areas, inter alia, threats, harassment and violence, in particular on issues relating to labour rights, the environment, land and natural resources; and combat impunity by taking steps to ensure that violations or abuses are promptly and impartially investigated and that those responsible are held accountable;

ppp. Ensure equal opportunities for women and girls in cultural, recreational and sport activities in all areas, including administration, management and participation in physical activities and sports at the national, regional and international levels, such as access, coaching, training, competition, remuneration and prizes;

qqq. Consider evaluating the costs and benefits of private sector participation in social protection systems, public service delivery and infrastructure development;

rrr. Create and strengthen gender-responsive accountability mechanisms, such as audits, and include beneficiaries and users in the evaluation of social protection, public services and infrastructure projects;

sss. Strengthen the capacity of national statistical offices and other relevant government institutions to collect, analyse and disseminate data, disaggregated by sex, income, age, disability and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, to support policies and actions to improve the situation of women and girls through access to social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure, and to monitor and track the implementation of such policies and actions, and enhance partnerships and the mobilization, from all sources, of financial and technical assistance to enable developing countries to systematically design, collect and ensure access to high-quality, reliable and timely disaggregated data and gender statistics;