This analysis is a work in progress that has been prepared as a working document by QUNO’s Sustainable and Just Economic Systems programme to help us better understand our theory of change and our actions in the multilateral sphere. It is a synthesis of the present state of QUNO’s insights, aided by the sources that are referenced at the end of the document. Failures and distortions in our economic systems are also among the root causes of problems handled by QUNO’s other three programmes: Human Rights & Refugees; Peace & Disarmament; and Human Impacts of Climate Change.

In collaboration with the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), QUNO’s New York Director, Andrew Tomlinson, participated in FWCC’s second session of, Quaker Conversations, FWCC’s monthly webinar series with Friends around the world. In preparation for the discussion, Andrew wrote a brief blog reflecting on the work of Quakers at the UN in New York. Key to his reflections is the role the United Nations has served in an ever-changing world after World War II, and the work that must be done going forward to affect positive change.

QUNO Geneva’s Director, Jonathan Woolley, will be participating this fall in another Quaker Conversations with FWCC.

Every five years the UN undertakes a review of the Peacebuilding Architecture (PBA) to assess the system’s progress towards peacebuilding and sustaining peace as well as to outline priority areas for the coming years. QUNO, drawing upon its long-standing history of exploring the topic of reconciliation in peacebuilding, submitted a thematic paper, Building Peace through Reconciliation, to contribute to the 2020 PBA review. The document focuses on three key areas, namely: the definitional challenges of reconciliation; reconciliation and the Peacebuilding Architecture; and key messages on reconciliation.

The Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children of Incarcerated Parents, of which QUNO is co-convenor, produced this Briefing Paper on the Rights of Children of Parents who are Incarcerated in the context of Covid-19, with the support of Penal Reform International. 

On 16 April, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), in partnership with the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), convened an off-the-record virtual discussion with peacebuilding organization representatives from throughout the world. The discussion addressed two interrelated themes: firstly, the Peacebuilding Fund’s (PBF) annual Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative (GYPI) funding calls; and, secondly, the impacts of COVID-19 on peacebuilding. This document provides an overview of the key themes, issues and ideas that emerged during the discussion, with no attribution to participants given the off-the-record nature of the meeting.

Children of incarcerated parents continue to face a range of challenges to the full respect for and enjoyment of their rights. This Briefing Paper provides an update to QUNO’s previous publication, offering an overview of the international legal standards applicable to these children. The paper incorporates information from legal instruments, treaty bodies, and other guidance from the United Nations and regional systems in both human rights and criminal justice fields. The paper is designed to promote the rights of these children, to aid States and other actors in ensuring that these rights are protected in practice, and to contribute to contribute to improving standards.

Every year, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) holds an annual session that brings together UN and Member State colleagues to focus on timely and key peacebuilding challenges and opportunities. This year's meeting, held on 4 December, focused on peacebuilding in Africa, particularly in the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and Mano River Union regions. Key issues in focus included the transborder threats of armed extremism, underdevelopment, climate change and gender-based violence. As in past years, QUNO was one of a small number of civil society organizations that participated, lending our voice and expertise to this UN discussion.

A Government Official’s Toolkit: inspiring urgent climate action includes 12 concise cases, 231 quotes referenced to over 100 published papers (including the IPCC Special Reports on: Global Warming of 1.5C Climate Change and Land Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate). This publication is written to support government officials—at local, regional and national levels—who are concerned about the impact of climate change on their citizens, their country, and the planet. It offers a range of concise cases to help you engage with different concerns, and integrate scientific, rights-based, and Indigenous knowledge and approaches throughout the Toolkit.

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.