UN General Assembly
1969

138. And in asking these questions I have no thought of wishing to return to the comfortable assemblage of States of the immediate post-war years or the power alignments of that time. We are now a much bigger Organization with much greater capacities through vastly increased and diverse membership. The future of the Organization and the possibility of restructuring it are questions that have equal significance in any part of the world, whether in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific—anywhere. 139. One of these larger issues is the problem of universal membership of our Organization. This question, important though it is, remains unsolved. But it underlines the failure of the Organization thus far to reach effective solutions of many critical issues, notably those that I have mentioned concerning peace and security. As it approaches its twenty-fifth anniversary, the United Nations is increasingly faced with the need to come to terms with a situation where a quarter of the world’s population remains unrepresented in it. The effectiveness of our Organization is impaired by a