Timeline

December 2024

QUNO's Engagement at INC-5 in Busan

The Sustainable and Just Economic Systems (SJES) programme team from the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), represented by Associate Representative Andrés Naranjo and Senior Technical Advisor Ronald Steenblik, recently participated in the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), held from 25 November to 1 December in Busan, Republic of Korea, as part of the FWCC delegation.

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November 2024

Release of "Plastic Money: Turning off the Subsidies Tap (Phase 2)"

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and Eunomia have published a new report detailing a second phase of research and modelling to understand the extent of subsidies for primary polymer production and the potential impact of removing these. We undertook the study with support from Dalberg Catalyst through grant funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.

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November 2024

QUNO at COP29, Part One

QUNO Geneva’s Human Impacts of Climate Change Programme has been attending the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan since the start of the conference on 11 November. Accredited under the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Lindsey Fielder Cook and Johan Cavert are representing QUNO during negotiations.

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November 2024

Resilience and Hope: Women’s Role in Working Towards Peace in Myanmar

In a recent meeting with diplomats, May Sabe Phyu of the Women's Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar shared that, “The only hope for any of us to live on is to see a new federal democratic Myanmar.” She made this point during a lunch gathering at Quaker House in New York on 23 October. The meeting brought New York-based diplomats together to meet with four representatives of the Women's Advocacy Coalition to learn more about the gendered aspects of the crisis in Myanmar.  
 

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November 2024

QUNO NY Spotlights: Enhancing Women's Leadership in Peace Processes

Each October, shortly after the opening of the year’s General Assembly, the UN observes Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) week. The week includes an open debate in the UN Security Council, which this year was entitled “Women Building Peace in a Changing Environment.” QUNO, in partnership with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), hosted a side event to extend this conversation beyond the walls of the UN, welcoming panelists from Uganda, Kyrgyzstan, and Palestine to speak to a full house of civil society and representatives of Member States.

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October 2024

QUNO publishes briefing paper on Carbon Dioxide Removal

QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change programme published a new briefing paper titled "Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): What is Sustainable and Just?". Written by Dr. Duncan McLaren and Dr. Olaf Corry, two academic experts on environmental law, international politics and geoengineering, this briefing paper is a key resource for understanding the risks of reliance on CDR.  

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October 2024

Quakers on Climate and Peace

QUNO Interim Deputy Director and Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change, Lindsey Fielder Cook, recently spoke in two webinars focused on climate, peace, and militarism. In July, Quaker Earthcare Witness held a conversation between Lindsey and General Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Joyce Ajlouny, about the interwovenness of peacemaking and climate justice.

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October 2024

The Human Costs of US Militarism on the Korean Peninsula

On 1 October, representatives of QUNO New York met with colleagues from the NGO Working Group for Peace on the Korean Peninsula to hear from Reverend Dr. Kim Hiheon. Reverend Kim is a pastor and peacebuilder from the Republic of Korea (South Korea), who engages in Christian activism on social justice, demilitarization, and unification of the two Koreas. The conversation took place in the context of a deteriorating relationship between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and South Korea, as North Korea has stated its intention to abandon reunification as their goal.  

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October 2024

Welcoming new team members to QUNO in NY and Geneva

As the United Nations prepared to open the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September, QUNO began a new chapter of its own. In both the New York and Geneva offices, the QUNO staff was excited to welcome new members of our team. In Geneva, we welcomed new Programme Assistants Johan Cavert and Kaya Van der Horst. In New York, we were joined by Programme Assistants Chelsea Comas and Ailih Weeldreyer, as well as a new UN Representative, Jessica Walker-Keleher.  

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October 2024

Remembering Stephen Collett

For anyone who has worked with the Quaker UN Office (QUNO) in New York, Stephen Collett's name looms large as a former Director who provided steadfast leadership during a time of significant change at the UN. We are saddened to learn of his unexpected passing on 29 July 2024.  

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October 2024

Looking back at the Summit of the Future Action Days: A reflection by Chelsea Comas

Friday 20 September marked the start of the Summit of the Future Action Days, where United Nations stakeholders gathered to address the most pressing issues of our time and express their efforts to work towards a better future. World leaders sought to reaffirm their commitment to peace efforts through the Pact for the Future. Civil society organizations, like QUNO, had an opportunity to engage in the implementation of the Pact for the Future during the Action Days.

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October 2024

Finding Hope from the Start: A reflection by Ailih Weeldreyer on beginnings with QUNO

I first stepped foot in the UNGA chamber at age eighteen on a tour while visiting New York City with my family. Taking in the vast expanse of delegate seats, the dramatic curve of the ceiling, and the UN seal shining in the distance, I dreamed wildly of one day having a place in that hall. Over the past few weeks, participating in civil society Action Days for Summit of the Future and experiencing the energy around the high-level week of the General Assembly, I thought often of teenage me.

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September 2024

International Solidarity with Palestine Solidifies at the Outset of the 79th Session of the General Assembly

On 17 September, the UN General Assembly convened for an emergency session to consider a resolution calling for the implementation of this summer’s opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which focused on Israeli settlements and called for their withdrawal.

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September 2024

QUNO’s Contribution to Care For Creation at the Friends World Committee on Consultation World Plenary

As part of the 2024 World Plenary Meeting (WPM), QUNO Geneva Interim Deputy Director and Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change Lindsey Fielder Cook, contributed personal reflection and testimony by video recording on the theme of ‘care for creation’. Taking place in South Africa from 5-12 August 2024, the WPM was organized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and hosted by the Southern Africa Yearly Meeting.

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September 2024

QUNO NY joins panel on ‘Mobilizing Civil Society for Sustainable Peace in the Age of Crisis’

While world leaders convened at the United Nations for the opening of the General Assembly, across the street at the UN Church Center civil society also gathered at the Global People’s Assembly to share experiences, strategize and mobilize in the face of growing global crises.  

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September 2024

New Brief: "Trade Issues and the International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution: A Legal Analysis"

As part of QUNO’s Sustainable and Just Economic Systems programme and the Uncommon Collaborations initiative, we are pleased to announce the release of a new brief titled Trade Issues and the International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution: A Legal Analysis. Authored by Dr. Alexandra Harrington, the report provides a critical examination of the intersection between international trade law and the proposed global treaty to end plastic pollution (ILBI), currently under negotiation.

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September 2024

Finding Determination in Disappointment: QUNO reflects on the Summit of the Future

On 22 and 23 September, world leaders met in New York for the Summit of the Future. The road to the Summit and its outcome document, the Pact for the Future, followed months of intense negotiation and has been a process that QUNO staff in Geneva and New York have followed closely.

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September 2024

QUNO bids fond farewell to this year's Programme Assistants

In September of 2024, QUNO’s offices in both New York and Geneva bid fond farewells to this year’s cohort of Programme Assistants. Natalie Dewar and Nyeri Otero Flanagan departed from QUNO’s New York office to pursue their future endeavours, and Anna Aguto, Maria Kamenias, and Chatrina Schumacher reached the end of their terms at QUNO in Geneva. The entire QUNO team thanks these committed advocates of peace and justice for their hard work and contributions to our programmes and community. We wish them the best of luck in their next steps! 

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