Japan

Following is the text of UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ video message to the Japan National Conference for Realizing a Carbon‑Neutral Society by 2050, held today:

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan told the Security Council that Afghanistan and the Taliban made genuine progress in peace talks, agreeing to rules and procedures; forming a working committee to discuss the agenda; and presenting each other initial lists of topics for negotiations.

Following is the text of UN Secretary General António Guterres’ video message to Japan International Cooperation Agency Symposium in Memory of Madame Sadako Ogata, held today:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres:

Honduras deposited the fiftieth instrument of ratification to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, resulting in it being entered into force in January 2021.  The Secretary-General said the Treaty is a commitment towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, which is the Organization’s highest disarmament priority.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Izumi Nakamitsu, Under Secretary-General and United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, observed on 9 August:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that it is providing tents, water, tanks and toilets to the more than 3,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that arrived in north-western Uganda last week during a temporary opening of two border crossing points.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Nepal, the United Nations team is helping the Government cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the repatriation of Nepali migrants returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asia at entry and transit points, with quarantine sites and isolation centres.  Some 25,000 returnees are expected in this first phase.

The new Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, Kimihiro Ishikane, presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres today.