Geneva

October 2020

QUNO delivers oral statement on the human rights of migrants

QUNO works on the human rights of migrants at the international level to promote the protection of human rights of all regardless of migration status. As part of this work, QUNO delivered a statement at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council General Debate on the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. This declaration supports understanding of the human rights of migrants, recognizing and reaffirming the dignity and inherent worth of all.

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October 2020

Landmark UN Human Rights Council resolution on the prevention of human rights violations

QUNO was pleased to have actively engaged in the informal negotiations of a landmark new UN Human Rights Council resolution on prevention. The resolution, led by a core group of Norway, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and Uruguay, was adopted by vote at the 45th session of the Council with 32 in favour, 11 abstentions and 3 against.

The resolution included significant elements that QUNO had supported and highlighted, including:

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October 2020

Geneva Reporter

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.

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October 2020

Briefing Paper: Using the Regional Migration Reviews to Further Human Rights Protection

This updated paper is intended to help migrants, NGOs and other stakeholders to engage with the Regional Migration Reviews as part of their work to improve the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants. The Global Compact for Migration (GCM), adopted in 2018, is a significant commitment from governments to take a people centred and human rights based approach to migration policy and to work together towards this. The GCM invites regions to undertake reviews of the implementation of the compact every four years starting in 2020.

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October 2020

Briefing Paper: Not Forgotten: Human Rights of Migrants at the 45th Session of the Human Rights Council

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.

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October 2020

Briefing Paper: Not Forgotten: Human Rights of Migrants at the 45th Session of the Human Rights Council

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.

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August 2020

QUNO convenes joint NGO key messages on COVID-19 and Business and Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Contexts

In July 2020, QUNO along with Brot für die Welt, Christian Aid Ireland, Swedwatch and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), submitted an informal input with key messages on COVID-19 and business and human rights to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, for their project on business in conflict and post-conflict contexts.

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August 2020

Key Human Rights Concerns for Children of Parents Accused or Convicted of Association with Designated Terrorist Groups

For over 15 years, QUNO has worked to draw attention to the impact on children of parental incarceration and clarify the existing human rights protection in international law. This paper draws on that work to outline the additional specific rights violations faced by children because their parents are accused or convicted of association with designated terrorist groups.

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August 2020

Biometric data in the context of children of parents suspected, accused or convicted of association with designated terrorist groups

There is growing international concern regarding the many children associated with designated terrorist organizations, one specific group of whom are children of parents suspected, accused or convicted of association with a designated terrorist group. Upholding the rights of these children is both a legal requirement and a moral imperative, yet they remain exposed to numerous, systemic violations of their rights. 

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July 2020

Working Paper: Exploring barriers to justice and sustainability in economic systems

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.

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July 2020

Children of Incarcerated Parents and Violence Against Children: QUNO delivers oral statement to 44th Human Rights Council

During the 44th session of the Human Rights Council, QUNO delivered an oral statement at the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, Najat Maalla M'jid. The statement, delivered by Programme Assistant Lucy Halton, highlighted the ways in which children of incarcerated parents experience violence at many levels, including the heightened risks they are encountering during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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July 2020

'A lethal disregard': QUNO's written statement on the human rights of migrants at the 44th Human Rights Council

QUNO submitted this written statement on the occasion of the annual Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants at the 44th session of the Human Rights Council, drawing the Council's attention to the ongoing mortality and morbidity of people on the move all over the world. The statement complements an oral statement to be delivered during the Interactive Dialogue by QUNO's Representative for Human Rights and Refugees, Laurel Townhead.

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June 2020

QUNO speaks at the resumed 43rd session of the Human Rights Council

QUNO was pleased to deliver a statement at the resumed 43rd session of the Human Rights Council on 15 June in Geneva, as part of the Item 5 General Debate on Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms. The statement, delivered by Programme Assistant for Peace and Disarmament, Cara Priestley, welcomed the rapporteurs’ report on the contribution of the Human Rights Council to the prevention of human rights violations, pursuant to Resolution 38/18.

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June 2020

"No-one will be safe until everyone is safe." QUNO welcomes Secretary General Guterres’ new Policy Brief.

QUNO welcomes the launch of a Policy Brief from UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, focussing on the situation of people on the move during the Covid-19 pandemic. QUNO has worked for decades on protection of refugees and in recent years on the human rights of migrants, and we are deeply concerned by the severe and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on refugee and migrant communities of all kinds, including migrant workers, migrants in irregular situations, and those in immigration detention.

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May 2020

QUNO Directors’ Letter on the Impact of COVID-19

Dear Friends,

The spread of COVID-19 has changed our world. We hold in the light those made ill by the new virus, their families and friends, and the dedicated people caring for all of us. Our hearts go out to the millions of people who are suffering as societies struggle to respond, including those who have lost their livelihoods and the most vulnerable among us.

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May 2020

QUNO Directors' Letter on the Impact of COVID-19

“We hold in the light those made ill by the new virus, their families and friends, and the dedicated people caring for all of us.” (…) “In the midst of rapid change, QUNO staff will continue to work quietly with international policymakers, guided by Quaker principles of peace, truth, justice, equality, stewardship and simplicity, and upheld by your encouragement and support.”

In this letter, the Directors of our New York and Geneva offices reflect on the impact of COVID-19 on peace, multilateralism and Quaker work at the United Nations.

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