My name is Gerald Filson. I'm with the Baha'i Community of Canada.

The Beijing +10 process is very important for the Baha'is because as we move into this year of evaluating where the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action have gotten us, we realize that there are major shortcomings. There's a tremendous amount of work to be done. We have to be concerned about any regression and the commitment of nations of peoples. One of the emerging themes is the role of men and boys. This is a somewhat controversial issue because there has been a falling off of resources to those groups that are pushing for the advancement of women, so we can't allow an enlarged agenda to in any way affect the resources. At the same time, we have to move ahead with all our diplomatic skills and our commitment to see that men and boys are increasingly engaged in this issue. Until men and boys understand the issues in a much more profound way than we would have hoped to have seen 10 years ago, there will be a lack of progress. So that's one issue that's emerging.

The states' responsibilities remain in many ways unfulfilled, and so it is time for the world community to look again at the commitments made in Beijing 10 years ago. It is unfortunate that so many other issues have eclipsed the advancement of women. For us, this is one of the central issues. It's an issue that relates across the board to peace, to human rights in virtually every category. More attention on those issues that emerged in Beijing would in fact advance the agenda in many of the other areas of concern. We see it, in other words, as the spearhead or vanguard issue in the whole range of human rights affairs.