The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) annually employs programme assistants to work with its Representatives at the United Nations (UN) for a year. 

This full-time position introduces young professionals, at the start of their careers, to the UN ecosystem, including other international organisations, diplomats and grassroots movements.

Yasmin Beldjelti was a programme assistant for the Human Rights and Refugees programme. She reflects on her year with QUNO, which ends in September 2023.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself?

As the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, it has been engaging in various ways with its most loyal supporters — Quakers.

Quakers are members of the Religious Society of Friends, an organisation founded on a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations and which is today a diverse global community.

Over the last few months, QUNO’s Geneva office has met regularly with Switzerland-based Quakers to strengthen relations and ensure they remain informed about its work at the United Nations.

Florence Foster, Representative for Peace & Disarmament at QUNO Gevena, spoke at the Human Rights Council 53rd Session during the Interactive Dialogue on casualty recording.

QUNO Geneva, as a founding member of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform (GPP), supported  consultations with relevant stakeholders in Geneva on the New Agenda for Peace Process (NA4P), which was organized in partnership with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on March 16th and 17th.

The Quaker United Nations Office welcomes the landmark decision by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.” The UNGA decision came after Vanuatu led a core group of nations, made up mostly of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and others, including New Zealand, to bring forward the resolution to the General Assembly.

2023 is an opportunity for us to celebrate 75 years of Quaker peace and justice work at the UN. Read our newest QUNO Review to learn more about the work of our New York and Geneva offices during this past year, and to learn about the work ahead.

On 29 March, QUNO Geneva engaged with the work of the Human Rights Council on systemic racism. Human Rights and Refugees Programme Assistant, Yasmin Beldjelti, spoke in both the Debate in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the General Debate Item 9 on Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related forms of intolerance.

In line with our prioritisation of ending lethal disregard for people on the move as a core element of achieving migration justice, QUNO Geneva is engaging with both the UN human rights system and the UN migration governance architecture.