Addis Ababa — The Beijing +10 Review Conference ended on a high note yesterday as delegates renewed their commitment to gender equality in Africa.

Delegates highlighted imperative areas of concern such as increased participation of women in economies, gender representation in poverty reduction strategies, policies aimed at educating and training women and a gender sensitive human rights approach.

"An important ingredient for accelerating delivery of the Beijing +10 Programme of Action is strengthening institutionalisation of gender through the provision of adequate resources, technical expertise and sufficient authority," read the conference declaration.

It called for regular governments' evaluation of the extent to which political will is translated into concrete results, so as to identify and remedy existing gaps when comes to the implementation of gender policies.

Delegates further recommended that respective countries should establish a fixed percentage of budgets for the implementation of gender equality programmes.

"Government should make more efforts to facilitate women's access to macro-credit schemes and national and international markets," read one of the conference resolutions.

Addressing the closing session, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Panel Chairperson Marie-Angelique Savane called on delegates to ensure that they implemented resolution adopted at their own countries.