On 29 January 2019, the President of the General Assembly H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, opened a closed meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) working group, formally titled “Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Related Matters”. This most recent session of the IGN which was co-chaired by the Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates and Ambassador Christian Braun of Luxembourg.

The 25-year old initiative focuses on reform towards equitable representation of member states, gender, and ethnicity on the Security Council (SC).

In her speech PGA Maria Espinosa Garcés re-iterated the importance of the SC within the context of the UN charter and as a mechanism for solving impending real-world crises. Therefore, she urged, the process of the negotiations not be taken lightly or preformed merely mechanically as they've become in recent years, saying, "It must not become an exercise in going through the motions. Behind every item on the Council’s agenda there are lives at stake."

She also framed the issue of SC reform within the larger context of the public’s trust, and demonstrating the validity of multilateralism and the UN as an institution to the global citizenry, saying, “the ability of the Council to effectively discharge this responsibility is, in the eyes of many, indelibly linked to the credibility of the UN as a whole. When the Security Council fails, the United Nations fails – and people lose faith in multilateralism. When the Council succeeds, it is a victory for the UN and for the rules-based international system.”

The PGA's speech ended on the themes of openness and inclusivity, pressing the need for both in the debate, saying, "every country’s view counts and every country must have ownership of the process, regardless of its size. It means also transparency. A clear timeline with dates and sufficient time for planning purposes will be extremely useful."

The full text can be found on the UN's website.