The Quaker UN Office (QUNO) Geneva is delighted to announce that after a thorough international recruitment process, we have appointed Laurel Townhead as Director. Laurel brings long and deep experience of working with the United Nations and with QUNO, having joined QUNO in 2014 as our Human Rights and Refugees Representative. She has combined this with being Interim Director for the last year, making an excellent start on strengthening QUNO to engage with a UN system in crisis. Prior to working with QUNO, Laurel was Policy and Campaigns Manager for Women in Prison.

This briefing note by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and Eunomia Research & Consulting presents the preliminary findings from the third phase of our "Plastic Money" initiative. Released in August 2025 to coincide with the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) on Plastic Pollution, this work continues our effort to bring clarity and evidence to the global discourse on plastic subsidies.

The Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva is looking for its next leader. If this could be you, please read the job pack and consider applying. You must be a member of the Religious Society of Friends to be eligible for this role. Application deadline: Friday 18 July 2025.

We mark International Conscientious Objector’s Day on 15 May 2025 in a context of increasing militarisation. Against this backdrop QUNO continues to work to uphold the rights of all whose conscience calls them to refuse military service.

QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change Program (HICC) participated in the 58th Session of the Human Rights Council, delivering two statements addressing climate justice and human rights. Both statements were given on behalf of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and in collaboration with Soka Gakkai International (SGI).

Attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11-22 November 2024, QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) program was busy engaging with proceedings and acting in our capacity as official credentialed observers of the multilateral negotiations:

Every few months, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva publishes the Geneva Reporter newsletter. In this latest edition we share updates on our programmes and links to our latest publications.

Geneva Reporter is freely available for download at the link further down on this page. We would appreciate it if you share it with anyone who might be interested in our work at the United Nations. Enjoy reading! 

QUNO is proud to announce that the latest version of our annual review is now available online! This is a great opportunity to read and learn more about the work of our New York and Geneva offices during this past year, and to learn about the work ahead.

Applications are now open for two programme assistant positions based at QUNO's office in Geneva from September 2024 to August 2025 working on: 

Human Rights & Refugees
Human Impacts of Climate Change

These are exciting opportunities for young professionals with an interest in international affairs to learn about and contribute to Quaker work at the United Nations.
They are open to Quakers and those in sympathy with Quaker values.

The closing date for applications is 21 April 2024.