There is a keen awareness among the international community of the importance of reform in the United Nations if it is to succeed in achieving its fundamental Charter objectives — to maintain international peace and security, to protect human rights, to uphold international law and to promote socio-economic development. This is particularly true given the new challenges of the post-Cold War world and the growing regional tensions to which the Deputy refers.
The UN's fiftieth anniversary which we are celebrating this year has added impetus to the reform debate. However, any substantial reform of UN structures will require widespread support from member states, of whom there are now 185. It is therefore inevitable that securing agreement on reform across a broad range of issues will take some time.
The Government is contributing very actively in co-operation with our European Union partners to the current reform debate in the General Assembly and its Working Groups. I propose to set out briefly recent initiatives which the Government has undertaken on a number of the most important issues relating to United Nations reform.