Meeting Between Foreign Minister Kawaguchi and Mr. Jan Kavan, President of the 57th Session of the U.N. General Assembly
(Summary)

Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi held talks with Mr. Jan Kavan, President of the 57th session of the U.N. General Assembly, at the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 15. The following is a summary of their discussions, which covered Iraqi problem, U.N. reform, and conflict prevention.

1. Regarding Iraqi problem, both sides shared the views that it was important to tackle the issue through the United Nations.

2. Regarding U.N. reform, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi stated that U.N. reform was necessary for the United Nations to realize the Millennium Declaration and that Japan intended to cooperate for it. In response, President Kavan stated that there was a need for two reforms, of the General Assembly and of the Security Council. Regarding the former, President Kavan said that he would try to promote the reform in order to realize a more efficient General Assembly. Regarding the latter, he said that discussions in the Open-ended Working Group had been continuing for nine years but that, frankly speaking, no substantial consensus had been reached. President Kavan said that as the tenth year of discussions approached, Member-States should consider taking advantage of this milestone. Foreign Minister Kawaguchi also stated that there was an urgent need to promote Security Council reform.

3. Regarding conflict prevention, President Kavan stated that continuous efforts were needed to deal with a conflict, from preventive diplomacy at the beginning, to response to the conflict itself and finally support for reconstruction after the end of the conflict. President Kavan expressed awareness that this policy of the United Nations coincided with Japan's policy. He said that the United Nations hoped to engage in even closer cooperation with Japan in this field.