A/HRC/17/34 C. Ensuring gender-sensitive policies 77. Studies by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) have shown that previous and current stimulus packages in several countries have tended to favour men over women, despite the fact that women had been more severely affected by the crises.51 If a gender approach is not actively considered, there is a serious risk that the recovery from the crises will also exclude women. 78. There are several measures that States should take to ensure a gender approach in the design and implementation of recovery measures. For example, States should conduct a comprehensive and disaggregated gender analysis that assesses the vulnerabilities of both genders as potential beneficiaries of social policies, and design responses accordingly. In designing measures, policymakers should consider the impact of the crises on women’s domestic (unpaid) and care work. 79. Recovery measures should prioritize investments in education and skill development for women and girls, provide investment in sectors where women make up a considerable proportion of the labour force (such as in export manufacturing) and undertake gender budgeting to ensure that women benefit equally from public investments. Policymakers must design, implement, monitor and evaluate initiatives through a gender lens, so that policies are able to address asymmetries of power and structural inequalities, and enhance the realization of women’s rights. D. Implementing socially responsible taxation policies 80. In several countries, the crises have demonstrated a clear need to maximize means of harnessing resources specifically for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. States should identify additional sources of fiscal space to increase resources for social and economic recovery. From an array of options, States should particularly consider widening the tax base, improving the efficiency of tax collection and reprioritizing expenditures. These types of reforms could help States to achieve a more progressive, equitable and sustainable taxation regime while complying with a human rights framework. 81. When contemplating widening the tax base, human rights principles require careful consideration to be given to rebalancing the tax contributions of corporations and those in high-income brackets. The introduction of new or higher taxes should not have a detrimental impact on those living in poverty. Improving the efficiency of tax collection requires reconsidering ineffective tax holidays, exemptions and waivers that disproportionally benefit better-off segments of society. A human rights approach also requires States to take steps to eliminate the prevalence of tax evasion, a problem that reduces the resources available for measures to realize human rights. Consideration should also be given to reprioritizing spending on social sectors (such as education and health) over, for example, military expenditures in order to ensure the maximum use of available resources for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. As discussed below, a human rights approach requires States to debate fiscal options openly, avoiding technocratic decisions being made behind closed doors, and instead allowing for greater transparency and participation. 51 18 See, for example, Adam McCarty, Lorraine Corner and Katherine Guy, “The differential impact of the Vietnamese economic stimulus package on women and men”, UNIFEM and Mekong Economics, 2009; and UNIFEM, “Making economic stimulus packages work for women and gender equality”, UNIFEM Working Paper, 2009.