A/C.3/65/L.5 10. Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide technical assistance and advisory services to Member States, upon request, in order to develop or strengthen, as appropriate, legislation, procedures, policies and practices for women in prison and on alternatives to imprisonment for women offenders; 11. Also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to take steps, as appropriate, to ensure broad dissemination of the Bangkok Rules, as a supplement to the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners1 and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules),5 and the intensification of information activities in this area; 12. Further requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to increase its cooperation with other relevant United Nations entities, intergovernmental and regional organizations and non-governmental organizations in the provision of relevant assistance to countries and to identify needs and capacities of countries in order to increase country-tocountry and South-South cooperation; 13. Invites specialized agencies of the United Nations system and relevant regional and international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to engage in the implementation of the Bangkok Rules; 14. Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary contributions for such purposes, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations. Annex United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) Preliminary observations 1. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners a apply to all prisoners without discrimination; therefore, the specific needs and realities of all prisoners, including of women prisoners, should be taken into account in their application. The Rules, adopted more than 50 years ago, did not, however, draw sufficient attention to women’s particular needs. With the increase in the number of women prisoners worldwide, the need to bring more clarity to considerations that should apply to the treatment of women prisoners has acquired importance and urgency. 2. Recognizing the need to provide global standards with regard to the distinct considerations that should apply to women prisoners and offenders and taking into account a number of relevant resolutions adopted by different United Nations bodies, in which Member States were called on to respond appropriately to the needs of women offenders and prisoners, the present rules have been developed to complement and supplement, as appropriate, the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the United __________________ a 10-56194 Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments, vol. I, Part I: Universal Instruments (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.XIV.4 (vol. I, Part I)), sect. J, No. 34. 5