however legal settings policies conditions and institutions are evolving in the region as governments and civic activists campaign to improve women s legal status eliminating legal discrimination against women and enabling their full empowerment to participate in public life requires focused action at multiple levels from ensuring compliance with international standards eliminating discriminatory provisions from laws and policies and mainstreaming gender considerations into all policies and programmes this action should be supported by efforts to improve the effectiveness of public institutions to promote equality and to promote a deep culture change across societies necessary to reverse deeply rooted discriminatory attitudes gender equity is a set of actions attitudes and assumptions that provide opportunities for both women and men recognises differences and accommodates them in order to prevent the continuation of an inequitable status quo and emphasises fairness in process and outcome