Peace and Development

Peace is not only an enabler of development; it is a development objective in itself. QUNO's approach to peace and stability, in the context of sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is rooted in the acknowledgment of violence as a fundamental dimension of human suffering. The need to address the drivers of violence is most clear in the case of societies impacted by chronic instability and violent conflict, where development objectives cannot be achieved without paying attention to issues such as governance, strengthening institutions, and inclusion, as well as a range of external factors. However, the universal nature of the new goal framework requires us to consider approaches to promoting peace across all societies.

Ongoing Activities

QUNO is working in coordination with civil society organizations from around the world to promote recognition of the central role of peace and stability in the new framework for sustainable development. This includes hosting events, making presentations, bilateral discussions with member states and UN officials, and strategy coordination.

Recent Timeline Events

October 2019

In & Around the UN

Read QUNO New York's newsletter, In & Around the UN, featuring articles on:

Opening of the High-Level Political Forum
The Quaker Peace & Social Witness visit to New York
QUNO's participation in New York Yearly Meeting summer sessions

and more from New York.

Related Files

Related Areas of Work

People, Planet…and Peace: A shared statement by peacebuilding organizations

21 September marks the International Day of Peace, which was established in 1981 by a unanimous resolution in the UN’s General Assembly. To mark the day, QUNO and over 100 additional peacebuilding organizations from throughout the world issued a statement to United Nations Member States that brings attention to peace concerns.

“By the end of 2018, over 70 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations, and the annual global economic cost of violence now exceeds $14 trillion USD," said Andrew Tomlinson, director of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York. "We need to redouble our collective efforts to prevent violent conflict by addressing its roots, and to structure our response to crisis in ways that support local capacities, respect human rights and align with long-term plans to build sustainable peace."

The statement calls on governments and the international community to:

Move from commitments to action on peace in the 2030 Agenda and across the three UN pillars;
Align crisis response with longer term prevention and peacebuilding efforts;
Protect and support civil society in fostering sustainable peace;
Think local and act global: recommit to multilateralism as a safeguard for the most vulnerable.

In addition, QUNO distributed a press release on the statement, which was shared widely with media contacts covering the United Nations.

Related Files

Related Areas of Work

May 2019

A Transformative Middle Ground

QUNO New York’s Director, Andrew Tomlinson, was pleased to have an interview with fellow Quaker organization, the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Speaking with Chris Kearns-McCoy, a Program Assistant with FCNL’s Communications team, Andrew reflected on Quaker work at the United Nations.

When reflecting on why Friends care about the UN, Mr. Tomlinson shared that “The UN charter, particularly the introductory segments, is largely one that Quakers could have written. A huge amount of the charter is about trying to prevent war, and that resonates for Friends.” Andrew also spoke about the unique approaches that Quakers bring to peace work at the United Nations. “We explicitly set out to bring in different voices. So, in our work with member states, we are reaching out not just to hear and to understand but to engage delegates from many different countries to together try to discern paths forward.”

To read the full interview, please visit here.

QUNO

Areas of Work