A/HRC/12/46 page 5 of the United Nations system to continue to play an active role in ensuring the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session. 10. The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 urged States to incorporate a gender perspective in all programmes of action against racism, xenophobia and related intolerance and to consider the burden of such discrimination, which falls particularly on indigenous women, African women, Asian women, women of African descent, women of Asian descent, women migrants and women from other disadvantaged groups.5 The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action both make numerous references to multiple forms of discrimination and the intersection of discrimination on grounds of race and gender.6 More recently, the Durban Review Conference, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 April 2009, evaluated progress towards the goals set by the World Conference and in doing so confirmed the importance of addressing multiple forms of discrimination.7 11. The 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration8 called for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to achieve sustainable development (Millennium Development Goal 3), reduce child mortality (goal 4) and improve maternal health (goal 5). At the 2005 World Summit, States recognized the importance of gender mainstreaming as a tool for achieving gender equality. To that end, they undertook to actively promote the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres, and further undertook to strengthen the capabilities of the United Nations system in the area of gender.9 B. Human rights treaty obligations 12. There are also specific legal obligations for the 186 States that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 96 States that have ratified its Optional Protocol. Obligations also arise for the States parties not to 5 Durban Programme of Action (A/CONF.189/12 and Corr.1, chap. I), para. 50. 6 Durban Declaration, paragraphs 19, 30, 69-72, 99-100, 109; and Programme of Action, paragraphs 9, 10, 18, 30 (h), 31, 36, 39, 50-54, 56, 59, 62-66, 69, 78 (g) and (m), 88, 94, 97, 109 (b), 121, 133, 136, 137, 139, 158, 174-176, 186, 201, 212 and 217. Ibid. 7 See Outcome document of the Durban Review Conference at www.un.org/durbanreview2009/ pdf/Durban_Review_outcome_document_En.pdf. 8 General Assembly resolution 55/2. 9 General Assembly resolution 60/1, para. 59.