UN General Assembly
1995

In these circumstances there is a need to view reforms of the United Nations system as a long-term, ongoing process that must protect the stability of the United Nations system at all times. At the same time, there is an opportunity for progress in regard to reforms which can be made without making permanent commitments to new fundamental system structures and procedures. In the light of these general considerations, I should now like to address Security Council reforms and United Nations system financing issues. The operation of the Security Council must continue to become more transparent and open, while preserving the Council’s effectiveness. Its expansion must strengthen the role played by small countries in global decision-making, while respecting equitable geographic distribution and the new geopolitical realities of the post-cold-war era. Since there is general agreement about the need for a modest expansion of the Security Council, the General Assembly could immediately decide to carry it out, if the decision would not force Member States to make permanent commitments on the two controversial