Japan and the United Nations
Foreign Minister Kamikawa’s meeting with H.E. Mr. António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
March 18, 2024
On March 18, commencing at around 3:10 p.m. (local time) for approximately twenty minutes, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting New York, U.S., to participate in the Ministerial Meeting of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held a meeting with H.E. Mr. António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. The overview of the meeting is as follows:
- At the beginning of the meeting, Secretary-General Guterres welcomed Minister Kamikawa, praised Japan for taking up disarmament and non-proliferation in the Security Council, and expressed his deep appreciation for Japan's contribution to the UN. In response, Minister Kamikawa thanked Secretary-General Guterres for his strong message at the Security Council Ministerial meeting on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, and stated that Japan would continue and strengthen its efforts in disarmament and non-proliferation.
- Both sides also agreed to cooperate to strengthen multilateralism through opportunities such as “Informal Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Human Security" on April 2 and the Summit of the Future in September.
- Both sides frankly discussed the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the UN investigation and independent verification of UNRWA, and UNRWA's own efforts to strengthen governance, and agreed that Japan and the UN will continue to work closely together.
- Minister Kamikawa introduced that her own visits to Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, and other countries have convinced her of the need to incorporate the WPS perspective into reconstruction and peacebuilding, and that she is promoting cooperation based on the WPS perspective at the Japan-Ukraine Economic Reconstruction Promotion Conference in February. Both sides agreed to work together for further promotion of WPS.
- Also, both sides also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the response to North Korea, including the abduction issue, while mentioning yesterday's ballistic missile launch.