Food security is  as a pressing global challenge. Agricultural innovation is critical to addressing it. Equally important is ensuring that the benefits of such innovation are widely diffused, especially in developing countries.

How should countries design their intellectual property (IP) system to encourage and support agricultural innovation?  

The TRIPS Agreement provides WTO Members with flexibility to implement IP provisions in a way consistent with their agriculture and food security objectives. Yet these flexibilities have received little attention so far.

This Policy Guide seeks to fill this gap by providing an overview of TRIPS-related patent flexibilities that support agriculture and food security. 

This Policy Guide is designed for negotiators and policymakers in the areas of intellectual property, agriculture and food policy as well as breeders, farmers and other members of civil society. It also intended to be a useful tool for providers and recipients of technical assistance in the areas of intellectual property and agriculture. 

A statement entitled:
"Civil Society Organisations Call for Dialogue and Urgent International Engagement to Support Non-­Military Solutions in Northern Myanmar."

Includes recommendations for immediate action by the Government of Myanmar and the Kachin Independence Army, as well as supportive measures to be taken by China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the UN.

Jointly authored by:

• QUNO
• Transnational Institute
• Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
• German Asia Foundation
• AFSC
• Burma Centre Netherlands
• Initiatives for International Dialogues

This statement welcomes the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and discusses Quaker perspectives on the issue.

Geneva's newsletter from May to August 2012. Featured stories:

• Water, conflict and cooperation
• Conscientious objection to military service
• Highlights from QUNO New York
• News in brief
• Children of parents sentenced to death: New work at QUNO Geneva

Letter to Friends from QUNO New York Director Andrew Tomlinson and QUNO Geneva Director Jonathan Woolley describing the work of QUNO in relation to:

• The 6th World Gathering of Friends in Kenya
• Peace & Disarmament
• Conflict, Collaboration and Natural Resources
• Human Rights & Refugees
• Global Economic Issues
• Peacebuilding & the Prevention of Violent Conflict
• Quaker Service Agencies at the UN and worldwide
• David Atwood's Backhouse Lecture

This publication arose out of QUNO’s wider work on the question of women in prison and children of prisoner’s. The study looks at children of incarcerated parents as individuals unto themselves, rather than as extensions of their parents, and therefore adopts a child’s rights approach. The Revised Draft Framework is a comprehensive exploration of the relevant child rights issues throughout the criminal justice process, from a parent’s arrest or detention to release following imprisonment. Examples of potential good practice, as well as relevant international/regional standards are included.

See also the following oral statement to the 14th session of the Human Rights Council.

In this submission to 19th session of the Human Rights Council, QUNO highlights the risks to physical and mental well-being faced by children of incarcerated parents. It recalls general principles to be kept in mind when considering and/or interacting with these children. Finally, it highlights potential examples of good practice.

See also the written statement on the same subject issued the previous year (2011).

QUNO Geneva's newsletter for November 2011 to February 2012. Featured stories:

- Preventing Armed Violence: the Geneva Declaration Review Conference
- The Unknown Impacts of Seeds Policies: Exploring the Effects of UPOV
- News from QUNO New York
- Watching the Climate Change Negotiations
- News in Brief, Jardins Ouverts, and Publications

QUNO was involved in the preparation of this Guide, which was published by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Guide brings together international standards, jurisprudence and national practice relating to conscientious objection. It is aimed at State officials responsible for drafting and implementing laws, individuals who may be unsure of their rights should they be called to perform military service, and civil society actors seeking to defend the rights of conscientious objectors. It includes a section on the protection of conscientious objectors under international refugee law.

See also A Conscientious Objector's Guide to the International Human Rights System.