Investing in women is not only the right thing to do. It is the smart thing to do. I am deeply convinced that, in women, the world has at its disposal the most significant and yet largely untapped potential for development and peace.

Gender equality is not only a goal in itself, but a prerequisite for reaching all the other international development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

The success of microfinance testifies to women's credit performance, as the number of poor women receiving micro-loans has jumped from 10 million in 1999 to 69 million in 2005.

And when women have access to finances, credit, technologies and markets, they are likely to expand their businesses and contribute effectively to sustained economic growth and development. They bring new perspectives and policies to decision-making. They increase the chances of education and employment for the next generation.

Governments are increasingly creating an enabling environment for investing in women. More than 50 countries have introduced gender-sensitive budgeting. Many are abolishing laws that prohibit women's access to land, property ownership, credits and markets.

They are increasing investments in the social sector, expanding opportunities for employment and enhancing access to education and new technologies. They are promoting women's entrepreneurship and opening greater access to microcredit and microfinance.

In 1995, the Beijing Platform for Action called on us to identify and mobilize funding for gender equality from all sources and sectors. Seven years later, the Monterrey Consensus recognised gender equality as an essential element of good governance, and women's empowerment as a key factor in economic development.

And yet, we still have a long way to go. Women are still severely hampered by discrimination, lack of resources and economic opportunities, by limited access to decision-making and by gender-based violence.

All of us in the international community - Governments, multilateral organizations, bilateral institutions and the private sector - need to dramatically increase investment in women and girls. We need to calculate the economic costs of persistent gender inequality and the resources required to remedy it.

We need to create mechanisms for tracking investment in gender equality. We need to monitor resource allocations and adjust.

Ban Ki-Moon is the UN secretary-general.