September 2025 marked the opening of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and highlights the final stretch to achieve the 2030 Agenda. As world leaders convened in New York, QUNO NY joined the Accountability Lab, CIVICUS, the Ford Foundation, Forus, and the Transparency, Accountability & Participation (TAP) Network to co-host “Civic Space Under Threat: An Interactive Workshop on Existential Challenges to Civil Society and Strengthening Resilience” virtually on 25 September.

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.

Every July, the international community gathers at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for a two-week conference called the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which assesses progress on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2025 HLPF convened from 14-23 July and marked the tenth anniversary of the SDGs since their adoption in 2015.

This March, QUNO Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change participated in the 62nd Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This was held from 24 February – 1 March 2025 in Hangzhou China

The 4th International Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference began on 30 June, bringing together world leaders, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector and the UN system to advance a new policy for financing sustainable development.

The Quaker United Nations Office is pleased to announce the release of our 2025 QUNO Review. As in previous years, the Review documents the work of our staff and partners across all program areas between our offices in New York and Geneva as we continue to support UN initiatives and influence international policy toward a more just and peaceful world.  

QUNO’s Human Rights and Refugees (HRR) programme recently provided a submission in response to a call for input by the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism on the topic of intersectionality from a racial justice perspective.

Through our membership of the Transparency, Accountability & Participation (TAP) Network, QUNO NY has been engaging in the process towards the United Nations (UN) Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4). The FfD4 process aims to create a global policy agenda that will renew the international financing framework, unlock capital flows and build on previous financing agreements.

QUNO recently provided three distinct submissions responding to a call for input by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change and Professor of Global Environmental Law, Elisa Morgera, on the topic of the fossil fuel based economy and human rights.