Statement by Mr. Nobutaka Machimura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon publication of the report of Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations

March 21, 2005
Japanese

Mr. Nobutaka Machimura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, made the following statement upon publication of the report of Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on Monday, March 21st.

1. On March 20th, the report of Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, entitled "In Larger Freedom," based on the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and the report of the UN Millennium Project, was officially released, in anticipation of the summit meeting on the Millennium Declaration to be held in September.

2. The Government of Japan welcomes the resolve of the Secretary General to promote discussion among Member States through the publication of his report on four important clusters including development, peace and security, rule of law and protecting the vulnerable, and UN institutional reform, as guidelines for achieving the resolution of the challenges facing the international community. The Government of Japan highly values these efforts of the Secretary General, as well as those of all others involved in the process.

3. Concerning Security Council reform, while the report does not recommend that which option, Model A or Model B of the High-level Panel report, should be given priority, it does point out that "Member States should agree to take a decision on this important issue before the summit in September 2005. It would be very preferable for Member States to take this vital decision by consensus, but if they are unable to reach consensus, this must not become an excuse for postponing action."
   Japan, along with many countries, has insisted that it is important to realize reform of the Security Council in line with Model A, which is based on the idea of expanding both the permanent and non-permanent categories. As the report of the Secretary General gives momentum toward the realization of the reform in line with Japan's position, the Government of Japan welcomes and supports the report.

4. With regard to development, the Government of Japan welcomes the report's wide-ranging examination of various developmental issues, including an increase in development finances to achieve the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs). As a major development aid donor, shouldering close to one-fifth of the total volume of worldwide development assistance over the last 10 years, Japan will continue to make such resolved effort to achieve the MDGs and, to that end, will strive increasing the level of ODA.

5. Having received this report, the Government of Japan is resolved to further strengthen its efforts to realize reform of the United Nations, and its Security Council, toward the summit in September, in cooperation with Secretary-General Annan and other countries.

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