Our newest QUNO Review provides a brief introduction to QUNO and our ways of working, as well as an overview of our areas of work. Learn more about our past year of work and where we are headed in 2021.

As a member of the Joint UN-Civil Society Working Group that developed the Guidelines, QUNO representative, Megan Schmidt, delivered this intervention during the global virtual launch of the UN System-Wide Community Engagement Guidelines on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace. QUNO’s intervention centered on the importance of inclusivity throughout the development of the Guidelines and highlighted the emphasis on a people-centered approach and local leadership that is reflected in the final document.

Working together American Friends Service Committee, Britain Yearly Meeting, Friends Committee for National Legislation, Quaker Council for European Affairs and Quaker United Nations Office have developed a statement on migration drawing on Quaker foundations and work with migrants and on migration. The core of the statement says:

Rooted in our belief that there is that of the sacred in everyone, our spiritual leading to uphold the inherent value and agency of every human being, and our commitment to building a world without violence, we are heartbroken by migration policy that dehumanizes some members of our human family on the basis of where they come from. We reject the notion that security for some can be achieved through means that use or result in violence and insecurity for others. We abhor the many forms of violence used in the management of migration and the effect current migration systems have in dividing our human family. 

We are committed to working for a world where dignity and rights are upheld regardless of migration status and not on the basis of citizenship or perceived deservedness.  Our faith calls us to work alone and with others for migration justice.  

Friends, Meetings and Quaker agencies and organizations around the world work for migration justice, bearing witness to the Quaker testimonies of peace and equality. Though our working methods may differ, the organizations that developed this statement are united by the shared vision expressed in this statement.

We encourage Meetings, Quaker organizations and Friends’ groups or associations to consider supporting the statement and signing on to it. 

If your organization, group or Meeting would like to sign on to support the statement or if you have questions about the statement or comments on it please email the Quaker UN Office’s Human Rights and Refugees team: Laurel Townhead ltownhead@quno.ch and Najmah Ali nali@quno.ch

The list of supporting Meetings, groups and organisations will be updated regularly and can be seen below: 

The Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network 

Quaker Earthcare Witness 

Esher Meeting

Trenton Meeting of Friends

West Brattleboro Quaker Worship Group

Montana Gathering of Friends 

Geneva Monthly Meeting

Switzerland Yearly Meeting

Honolulu Friends Meeting

St Andrews Local Meeting

Pima Monthly Meeting

Pittsburgh Friends Meeting

Midlothian Friends Meeting

Bridge City Friends Meeting

Sandpoint Friends Meeting 

The 2020 Joint Session between the Peacebuilding Commission and the Economic and Social Council was convened around the theme of “Fostering global solidarity and conflict sensitive responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impacts.” To support Member States in their preparations for the discussion, QUNO shared a messages document with Member State and UN colleagues ahead of the joint session that reflected on challenges and opportunities faced by the international community in building back better from crisis, especially in countries most affected by conflict.

As the Secretary-General boldly states in his 2020 report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, “civil society engagement and participation is indispensable to peacebuilding.” Recognizing this essential role of civil society, the United Nations (UN) released Community Engagement Guidelines on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (CEG), a system-wide guidance to enhance how the UN engages and partners with communities in the shared effort to build and sustain peace. This publication resulted from work carried out since 2019 by a joint UN-civil society working group, of which QUNO was one of three civil society partners.

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

• Building Peace through Reconciliation
• Supporting Country-level UN Capacities for Prevention
• 15 Years of UN Peacebuilding

and more from New York.

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) believes in the inherent worth of every individual and is committed to working for migration justice. This includes the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants, regardless of migration status. Migration has been an integral component of our societies throughout history; however, migrants continue to face hostility, criminalization and violence which underlines what the High Commissioner of Human Rights has described as a lethal disregard for migrant’s lives. This is further exacerbated by the Covid-19 global pandemic which is disproportionately impacting on those in situations of marginalization and vulnerability.

The Human Rights Council has an important role to play in the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants and should contribute both to preventing violations and responding to human rights violations. This report provides a thorough collection of relevant elements from thematic reports, panels, debates, dialogues and resolutions and identifies potential entry points through activities mandated in resolutions adopted at this session.

QUNO's October 2020 issue of the Geneva Reporter newsletter is available below. This expanded issue includes a special feature from our programme Representatives on the impact of Covid on our work and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. This issue also features a Q&A with our 2019-2020 PAs on their experience leading the first ever virtual Summer School; brief news updates and a QUNO Q&A with Beatrice Liese.