For the first time in a UN agreement at the level of Heads of State, the 2005 World Summit Outcome document included particularly detailed language on gender equality. The specific language "we reaffirm that gender equality and the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all are essential to advance development and peace and security" is of special significance for women's rights advocates.
World leaders reiterated the importance of women's role in peacebuilding and the prevention and resolution of conflict, reaffirming their commitments to full implementation of resolution 1325. They also explicitly condemned "all violations of the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflict and the use of sexual exploitation, violence and abuse," and committed to "elaborating and implementing strategies to report on, prevent and punish gender-based violence."
Compiled from: Beijing and Beyond, Women's Alert: a Gender Monitoring Group of the 2005 World Summit, October 12, 2005; Security Council Resolution 1325 Turns 5, UNIFEM, October 2005