ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN JAPAN, 22-25 JANUARY
Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Tokyo in the evening of Monday, 22 January, after concluding a two-and-a-half day visit to China. He told reporters at Tokyo's Narita airport that he would be having discussions with Japanese leaders, including the Emperor and the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance, on United Nations reform, including Security Council reform, peacekeeping and development. "As the Prime Minister himself has just come back from Africa, I look forward to discussing with him the situation in Africa", he said.
The Secretary-General began his day on Tuesday with a meeting with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, then held a series of discussions with Japanese leaders, including Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Foreign Minister Yohei Kono. Two meetings with members of Parliament were also on the Secretary-General’s schedule.
Discussions focussed on the follow-up of the Millennium Summit, United Nations reform, in particular Security Council reform, and the situation in Africa. The Secretary-General praised the importance of Japan’s contribution to global peace and security through development assistance, conflict prevention and humanitarian aid. The need to generate greater public awareness among the Japanese public about the United Nations and to boost the number of Japanese United Nations staff members were mentioned during the meetings.
The Secretary-General and Prime Minister Mori, who recently completed the first trip to sub-Saharan Africa by a Japanese Prime Minister, talked about the needs of that continent and his ideas on strengthening Japan’s contribution in this area.
Prime Minister Mori, at a luncheon he hosted for the Secretary-General, read aloud to his guests a letter which was read to him by a Sudanese refugee girl during his trip to Africa.
“I dream that one day girls will go to school together with boys and not have to leave school earlier because they are to get married. Tell me, men and women, do I have a chance?” Mori read, quoting the letter. “I dream that some day women will have important jobs like men, teachers, doctors and engineers, tell me, men and women do I have a chance? I dream that one day there will be no wars in the world and that people will be the same. Tell me, men and women, do I have a chance? We all dream that some day women will have equal rights with the men, and they all say that women’s place is in the kitchen will no longer be true.”
The discussions with the Foreign Minister addressed several issues of international peace and security including the situation in the Middle East, the Gulf and the Korean peninsula.
The meeting with Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa was devoted to the evaluation of economic trends in various parts of the world as well as in Japan.
One member of Parliament, Akihiko Kumashiro, said he clicked on the United Nations home page for the first time today before meeting with Secretary-General and learned all about his recent travels. “I’ve now added the UN Home Page under ‘Favorites’.”
A meeting with Sadako Ogata, former High Commissioner for Refugees, was the Secretary-General’s first appointment on Wednesday, 24 January. They discussed the establishment of a commission, which Mrs. Ogata would co-chair with Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, to identify threats to “human security.”
The Secretary-General then met with 29 ambassadors of the African Group in Japan and discussed United Nations and Security Council reform, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and strengthening the United Nations-Japan partnership.
He opened the so-called “UN House” in Tokyo (see SG/SM/7688), toured a humanitarian emergencies exhibition in the building and met with United Nations staff before attending a luncheon hosted by the Rector of the United Nations University, Hans van Ginkel.
A visit to the head office of the national broadcasting foundation, NHK, was followed by a news conference at the National Press Club and a meeting with Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, during which Japan’s development assistance and contribution to peacekeeping operations were discussed.
At the press conference the Secretary-General, in summing up his visit, said he was “heartened to see the commitment by Japan to continue playing its leadership role” and that he could not over-emphasize the importance of Japan’s development assistance to countries in need of help.
Before attending a private dinner hosted by Ambassador Yukio Satoh, Japan’s Permanent Representative in New York, the Secretary-General met with five goodwill ambassadors and the father of a United Nations staff member killed while serving in the United Nations mission in Cambodia who has been named "UN Volunteers Honoured Ambassador". During that event, the Secretary-General sang and joined hands to dance with the Japanese goodwill ambassadors.
The Secretary-General ended the official part of his visit to Japan on Wednesday and flew to Zurich on Thursday, 25 January, en route to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the annual World Economic Forum.