A/RES/67/16 number of civilian casualties, including women and children, and their impact on local communities, notes that the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other violent and extremist groups and illegal armed groups remain responsible for the significant majority of civilian casualties, reiterates its call for all feasible steps to be taken to ensure the protection of civilians, and calls for additional appropriate steps in this regard and for full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law; 55. Reiterates the importance of upholding international obligations for the advancement of women’s rights as enshrined in the Afghan Constitution, in this context also reiterates the importance of implementing Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and recalls Council resolutions 1820 (2008) of 19 June 2008, 1888 (2009) of 30 September 2009, 1889 (2009) of 5 October 2009 and 1960 (2010) of 16 December 2010, on women and peace and security; 56. Commends the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan to mainstream gender issues, including into the national priority programmes, and to protect and promote the equal rights of women and men as guaranteed, inter alia, by virtue of its ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 10 and by the Afghan Constitution and the implementation of the National Action Plan for Women, reiterates the continued importance of the full and equal participation of women in all spheres of Afghan life and of equality before the law and equal access to legal counsel without discrimination of any kind, and stresses the need for continued progress on gender issues in accordance with the obligations of Afghanistan under international law; 57. Strongly condemns incidents of discrimination and violence against women and girls, and underscores the importance of countering impunity for these incidents, in particular if directed against women activists and women prominent in public life, wherever they occur in Afghanistan, including killings, maimings and “honour killings” in certain parts of the country; 58. Reiterates its appreciation for the Elimination of Violence against Women Special Fund of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) as well as for its Urgent Response Fund, which continues to address targeted violence against women and women’s rights defenders in Afghanistan, and stresses the need for continued financial contributions by the international community to those funds; 59. Welcomes the achievements and efforts of the Government of Afghanistan in countering discrimination, urges the Government to actively involve all elements of Afghan society, in particular women, in the development and implementation of relief, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction programmes, as well as in national priority programmes, and accurately track the progress of the full integration of women into political, economic and social life, stresses the need for continued progress on gender equality, in accordance with its obligations under international law and in the empowerment of women in Afghan politics and public administration, including in leadership positions and at the subnational level, also stresses the need to facilitate the access of women to employment and to ensure female literacy and training, and calls upon the international community to continue to provide support in this regard; _______________ 10 Ibid., vol. 1249, No. 20378. 13