Japan and the United Nations

• Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visited New York from Monday, September 28 to Thursday, October 1 to attend the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
• Minister Kishida attended six multilateral meetings, including the 9th  Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT), the 23rd Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), the G7 Outreach Foreign Ministers’ Meeting regarding Humanitarian Assistance for Refugees and Displaced Persons, the United Nations General Assembly Meeting to Commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the High-level Side Event on strengthening cooperation on migration and refugee movements in the perspective of the new development agenda, and the Middle East Quartet Outreach Meeting, as well as the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, at which he served as co-Chair.
• Minister Kishida held meetings with foreign ministers of three countries (the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia) and attended the inaugural Japan-U.S.-India Trilateral Ministerial dialogue as well as Japan-U.S.-ROK Trilateral Ministers’ Meeting. He took these opportunities to strengthen relationships and build trust with the foreign ministers of each country.

(1) Bilateral meetings etc.

Minister Kishida held bilateral foreign ministers' meetings with the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, and he attended trilateral Ministerial meeting with, the United States and India as well as Japan-U.S.-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting.. In addition to exchanging views on bilateral relations, in each meeting, Mr. Kishida also explained Japan's position regarding regional affairs and global issues, and discussed cooperation in the international arena.

(2) Nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation

(i) Minister Kishida co-chaired, together with the foreign minister for Republic of Kazakhstan, the 9th Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT). In his statement, Minister Kishida called for: (1) a promotion of political efforts to invite signature and ratification of the CTBT by the States, focusing in particular on those states whose ratification is required for the Treaty to enter into force; (2) a promotion of the further development of the International Monitoring System towards its completion; and (3) a promotion in increasing awareness in the civil society of the catastrophes resulting from the use of nuclear weapons. Among the participants, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO Lassina Zerbo, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini attended the conference, where they adopted the Final Declaration.

(ii) Also, Minister Kishida participated in the United Nations General Assembly Meeting to Commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Among the points made in his statement, Minisiter Kishida stated that while the NPT regime faces challenges, it is important to make further efforts to strengthen it so that the next NPT Review Conference will be a success, and that Japan is determined to make utmost efforts in this regard. With the average age of Hibakushas (atomic bomb survivors) now over 80, Minister Kishida also pledged with renewed determination to pass on their strong feelings across borders and generations, and to strive toward the realization of a world free of nuclear weapons.

(3) Climate change

Minister Kishida attended the Special Foreign Ministers Session of the 23rd Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), and stated that a new international framework on climate change to be adopted at COP21 in Paris at the end of this year should be fair and effective and applicable to all parties, and that the Government of Japan will actively contribute to the successful adoption of the framework.

Minister Kishida went on to state, among other points, that under the new international framework, each party must set forth its fair and ambitious mitigation contribution with a long-term view, and a review system to ensure the effective implementation of Parties' contributions, and mechanisms to continuously increase mitigation ambitions should be established. He also stated that with a view toward the success of COP21 it is important to support developing countries, especially those countries that are vulnerable, and that Japan has been making contributions in this regard, including the assistance of approximately USD 20 billion from both public and private sources during the two years from 2013 to the end of 2014 and the decision to contribute USD 1.5 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

(4) Migration and refugees

(i) Minister Kishida attended the G7 Outreach Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Humanitarian Assistance for Refugees and Displaced Persons, which was held on September 29. The participants called for increased humanitarian assistance for refugees and displaced persons, and concurred that the international community must cooperate in undertaking a humanitarian response and solving the root causes of the issue. Minister Kishida expressed Japan's solidarity with Europe as a partner that shares fundamental values and announced that Japan will provide assistance for this kind of problem. At the end of the meeting, a statement was delivered by the Chair.

(ii) Minister Kishida attended the meeting on “strengthening cooperation on migration and refugee movements in the perspective of the new development agenda.” Along with the introduction of Japan's assistance for the world's humanitarian crises, he announced that, in response to the refugee issue, Japan will further strengthen collaboration between humanitarian assistance and development assistance and also work closely with international organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the lead up to the World Humanitarian Summit scheduled to take place in Turkey in May 2016.

(5) Middle East peace process

At the Middle East Quartet Outreach Meeting, Minister Kishida emphasized that the issue of peace in the Middle East is an immediate priority and stated that economic and social development is needed to resolve the issue of Middle East peace. He also pointed out the necessity of mobilizing a wide range of nations to advance the peace process and, from this standpoint, he announced Japan's intention to provide new aid worth approximately 12 million USD.