The Bangkok Rules 4 4. Recognizes that, in view of the great variety of legal, social, economic and geographical conditions in the world, not all of the rules can be applied equally in all places and at all times; and that they should, however, serve to stimulate a constant endeavour to overcome practical difficulties in their application, in the knowledge that they represent, as a whole, global aspirations amenable to the common goal of improving outcomes for women prisoners, their children and their communities; 5. Encourages Member States to adopt legislation to establish alternatives to imprisonment and to give priority to the financing of such systems, as well as to the development of the mechanisms needed for their implementation; 6. Encourages Member States having developed legislation, procedures, policies or practices for women in prison or on alternatives to imprisonment for women offenders to make information available to other States and relevant international, regional and intergovernmental organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations, and to assist them in developing and implementing training or other activities in relation to such legislation, procedures, policies or practices; 7. Invites Member States to take into consideration the specific needs and realities of women as prisoners when developing relevant legislation, procedures, policies and action plans and to draw, as appropriate, on the Bangkok Rules; 8. Also invites Member States to collect, maintain, analyse and publish, as appropriate, specific data on women in prison and women offenders; 9. Emphasizes that, when sentencing or deciding on pretrial measures for a pregnant woman or a child’s sole or primary caretaker, non-custodial measures should be preferred where possible and appropriate, with custodial sentences being considered when the offence is serious or violent; 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 Prisoners18 and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules),19 and to ensure 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-to-country 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; ___________ 18 19 Resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977 of the Economic and Social Council. Adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/110 of 14 December 1990.