On the 27th of February 2015, QUNO, alongside its partners at the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, launched the White Paper on Peacebuilding. Published in anticipation of the 10-year review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture, this collaborative publication aims to account for a diverse range of perspectives in discussing the challenges, opportunities, and future of peacebuilding, as well the ways in which societies may work towards a sustainable peace, with the support of the UN and other international actors. At this event, panelists representing the GPP’s partner organizations, including QUNO’s Diane Hendrick, discussed the contents of the White Paper, underlining the importance of accounting for voices from the field as well as the need for greater emphasis on prevention in peacebuilding efforts. The White Paper and a series of detailed background papers are available below.
Myanmar “sham electionsโ: QUNO hostsย Quaker Houseย briefing
On 2 December, the Quaker UN Officeย hostedย diplomatsย at Quaker House forย a private briefingย in advance of theย elections in Myanmarย that began onย 28 December 2025.ย QUNO Director, Sarah Clarke,ย openedย the meeting, noting thatย โthe world will beโฏwatchingโฏcarefullyย to see howย the international communityย respondsย toโฏthe vote.โย Seanย Dunne,ย an expert who hasย supported election observationย with the UN and the Carter Center,ย including in Myanmar, served as an outside briefer.ย In his remarks, Seanย emphasized that the Myanmarย general elections,ย which areย being conducted by the military regime that overthrew the democratically elected governmentย followingย electionsย in 2020,ย โfail to meet any recognized international benchmark for credibility or genuineness.โย Seanย concurredย withย UN experts,ย numerousย Human Rightsย organizations, and media outlets describing theย elections asย a โcharadeโ or โshamย electionโ intended to โsolicit recognition from foreign governments and legitimize the continuation of military rule, rather than reflect the genuine will of the Myanmar people.โย In Myanmar,ย voting kicked off onย 28 December 2025,ย withย polls beingย held inย roughly aย third of Myanmarโsย townships. Despite two more voting phases scheduled on 11 and 25 January 2026, several million people, 56 townships, andย numerousย political parties,ย including the winner of Myanmarโs lastย credible election,ย the National League for Democracy, have been excluded by the military orย haveย chosenย not toย participate.ย ย As Sean explained, theseย exclusionary factorsย amount to โan incredibly sophisticated form of election engineering.โย Theย implementation of biometric voting and surveillance technology, new laws criminalizing criticism of the election, andย manipulation of representative quotas in Myanmarโs […]
