By Wang Xiangjiang

With the launch of intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council, the United Nations has initiated a fresh attempt to restructure its most powerful body.

Ambassadors from the world body's 192 member states huddled behind closed doors on Thursday to jump start a process that has lasted for decades but so far yielded no substantive results.

Analysts say that in light of the issue's complexity and far-reaching implications, the road ahead will be beset with challenges that nothing short of an international consensus could help surmount.

The UN General Assembly opened on Thursday intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council.[Xinhua]

The need for reform

Despite the difficult nature of this issue, the vast majority of countries have supported the restructuring of a Council that has largely remained unchanged since its inception in the 1940s.

When the Council held its first session on Jan. 17, 1946 in London, it had five veto-holding permanent members, namely China, France, the Soviet Union, Britain and the United States, as well as six non-permanent members elected on a regional and two-year basis. In 1965, the Council was expanded to include four more non-permanent seats and has maintained its membership level at 15 states ever since.

With a growing UN membership and in face of challenges of a new century, most countries agree that the Security Council, founded on the remains of World War II, can no longer fully reflect present-day realities.

One of the chronic problems is the under-representation of developing countries, which account for more than two thirds of the UN's 192 member states.

A stronger presence for developing countries, in particular Africans states, would better help the Council to shoulder its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.