UN General Assembly
2000

reforms in the six years since the Open-ended Working Group was established. The impasse is disappointing, and I hope that this session will give new impetus to the reform effort. It is clear from statements at the Millennium Summit, and during this debate, that there is strong support for reform. Renewed commitment and flexibility are needed from all sides. In the recent debate about United Nations reform, one key element has largely been missing. I refer to the United Nations electoral groups. The electoral groups were established to ensure that there was fair and equitable representation on United Nations bodies, so that all Members who wanted to make a contribution to United Nations decision-making would have an opportunity to do so. Now that three decades have passed since the formalization of the present groups, it is time that we focused on their relevance to present and future geopolitical realities. The current group system reflects the geopolitics of the 1960s. Since that time, more than 60 nations have joined the United Nations, leading to significant