The Secretary-General met with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Netherlands on the sidelines of the centenary events at the Peace Palace in The Hague today.

In both meetings, the Secretary-General commended the Netherlands for its strong support for the United Nations and for its commitment to development, notably for being one of only five countries to have reached the 0.7 percent target of Gross National Income for overseas development assistance.

In his meeting with H.E. Mr. Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister, the Secretary-General discussed developments in Syria, the Middle East, Egypt and Mali and the importance of providing state-building and institution-building support to countries in transition. They also touched on UN reform.

In his meeting with the Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Frans Timmermans, the Secretary-General focussed primarily on the crisis in Syria and the work of the UN chemical weapons investigation team. They also discussed Mali and the Millennium Development Goals as well as the post-2015 development agenda. The Secretary-General thanked the Netherlands for its support to various UN peacekeeping operations and underscored the continued need for additional material support for  MINUSMA in Mali, particularly air assets.