A/RES/73/253 Agriculture development, food security and nutrition recognizes the need to maintain natural ecological processes that support sustainable and efficient food production systems and ensure food security, underlines the importance of mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the agriculture sector, and takes note of the importance of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and the Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 17. Expresses concern about antimicrobial resistance, in particular in the agricultural sector, and in this regard encourages the implementation of the action plan on antimicrobial resistance 2016–2020 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which supports the food and agriculture sectors in implementing the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance 22 developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with, and subsequently adopted by, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health, in order to minimize the impact of antimicrobial resistance; 18. Recognizes that sustainable food systems have a fundamental role to play in promoting healthy diets and improving nutrition and preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases, and welcomes the formulation and implementation of internationally consistent national policies aimed at eradicating malnutrition in all its forms and transforming food systems so as to make nutritious diets available to all, while reaffirming that health, water and sanitation systems must be strengthened simultaneously to end malnutrition; 19. Calls for closing the gender gap in access to productive resources in agriculture, noting with concern that the gender gap persists with respect to many assets, inputs and services, and stresses the need to invest in and strengthen efforts to empower women, in particular rural women, to address their own food and nutritional needs and those of their families, to promote adequate standards of living for them, as well as decent conditions of work, and to guarantee their personal health, wellbeing and security, full access to land and natural resources and access to local, regional and global markets; 20. Recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women, including smallholders and women farmers, and indigenous women and women in local communities, and their traditional knowledge in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty, and in this regard stresses the importance of reviewing agricultural policies and strategies to ensure that the critical role of women in food security and nutrition is recognized and addressed as an integral part of both short- and long-term responses to food insecurity, malnutrition, potential excessive price volatility and food crises in developing countries, as well as of the recognition and protection of the rights of smallholders, in particular women; 21. Reaffirms the crucial role of healthy marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture in enhancing food security and access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food and in providing for the livelihoods of millions of people, particularly inhabitants of small island developing States, and in this regard encourages the full implementation of the Global Action Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Small Island Developing States, which was launched on 4 July 2017; 22. Encourages and recognizes the efforts at all levels to establish and strengthen social protection measures and programmes, including national safety nets and protection programmes for the needy and vulnerable, such as food and cash -forwork, cash transfer and voucher programmes, school feeding programmes and mother-and-child nutrition programmes, and in this regard underlines the importance of increasing investment, capacity-building and systems development; 10/13 18-22634