A/HRC/12/46 page 11 throughout its mechanisms and programme of work. Thirty-one States made statements during the interactive dialogue, welcoming the discussion on gender integration and providing constructive proposals to that end.17 31. On 12 September 2008, during the ninth session, the Council, following on resolution 6/30, held its second panel discussion, on “Gender integration”, focusing on the work of the Council and its special procedures in order to have a more targeted and results-orientated discussion. The panel provided many practical recommendations for the special procedures to fulfil resolution 6/30, including specific recommendations relevant to the individual mandates. By ensuring that an annual meeting is held each year to evaluate progress and consider how it can improve its integration of a gender perspective, the Council has indicated its significant commitment to this issue. 32. What emerged from the panels already held as one of the more significant challenges is a lack of understanding on the part of Member States of how to integrate a gender perspective into the Council’s work. The “Gender integration” panel discussions produced an important set of practical recommendations,18 some of which the Council could immediately implement with minimal effort, and others which would merit further consideration. 33. More fundamentally, while the meaning of “gender”, “gender mainstreaming”, “gender equality” and “gender parity” have been clearly spelled out in numerous United Nations policy documents, there continues to be a divergence of views and understanding among Member States as to the respective definitions, which sometimes hampers optimal effectiveness and debate. In this regard, the Deputy High Commissioner in her presentation at the first gender integration panel went to considerable lengths to explain the importance of language and the demystification of definitions.19 When considering the human rights of women, it is important to add the phrase “and a gender perspective” in order to emphasize that adopting a human rights-based approach through a gender perspective affects not only women and girls, but necessitates an analysis also of the human rights impact upon men and boys; gender integration/mainstreaming is simply ensuring that women and girls’ rights, perspectives and needs, as well as those of men and boys, are systematically considered. 17 Presentations and statements made during the interactive dialogue and the summary of recommendations can be found at www.ohchr.org. 18 The summary of the recommendations of the “Gender integration” panel can be found at www.ohchr.org. 19 “Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles of men and women or the social differences that are learned. Gender roles are deeply rooted in every culture, but they are changeable over time and have wide variations both within and between cultures. The presentation, of 20 September 2007, can be found at www.ohchr.org.