Madam President,

Let me join previous speakers in conveying our solidarity for today’ speakers in conveying our solidarity for Elimination of Violence against Women. Elimination of Violence against Women.

I am pleased to join this annual debate on the “the Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council”. On behalf of the delegation of the Federated States of Micronesia, I wish to commend you Madame President for your leadership and commitment to the reform process, and assure you of our full support.

Madame President,

As a small island developing state, our prosperity and our security is interlinked with the reform of the Security Council. As we approach the 75^th anniversary of the UN Charter next year, we must ensure that this milestone shapes a Council that is reflective of the global challenges before it, and a membership reflective of today’s world.

I associate my statement with the statement made by Her Excellency Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of St Vincent and the Grenadines on behalf of the L.69 group, and make these few points in my national capacity.

• We look forward to the immediate appointment of the co-chairs of the IGN process so the organizational tasks of the IGN can proceed as soon as possible;

• Advance notice of the calendar of IGN meetings will assist small delegations plan effectively. And for such enterprise of importance to succeed, the IGN meetings must take us through well into the month of July to allow thorough discussions and negotiations;

• We also agree fully with those calls made that in the case of the intergovernmental negotiation process, we cannot simply sweep aside the idea and need for documentation and attribution. If we are to build on the work of previous years, we must be able to identify and know the level of support for each proposal;

• The credibility of the meetings of the IGN process must be transparent and Madame President, though we realize that this Assembly will continue to debate the need for official records of the process, we fear even more strongly that with each passing IGN without such records and transparency, we will fail in our pursuit of our objectives. There is no better guarantee of transparency than availing our IGN meetings to live webcast.

I thank you Madame President.