The Secretary-General met today with H.E. Mr. Fumio Kishida, Foreign Minister of Japan, on the margins of the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Secretary-General emphasized that 2015 is a crucial year for the United Nations, adding that he expects Japan to continue to play a leadership role in achieving a transformative post-2015 development agenda and a meaningful, universal climate change agreement.

On the forthcoming Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Secretary-General voiced hope that the implementation of disarmament commitments would be accelerated.

The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister also discussed Syria, including the forthcoming donor conference in Kuwait; Sri Lanka; countering violent extremism; UN reform; and the situation in Northeast Asia, as well as on the Korean Peninsula.