Timeline

Inclusion of Local Perspectives

QUNO helps to bridge the gap between civil society actors in the field and the UN in New York.
January 2023

Civil Society-UN Prevention Platform submission for UN’s New Agenda for Peace

On the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Member States pledged to strengthen global governance for the sake of present and future generations. At the request of Member States, the Secretary-General released the much-anticipated report, ‘Our Common Agenda,’ that provided several recommendations, including the need for a New Agenda for Peace (NA4P), to address the multitude of challenges faced by the international community.

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December 2022

QUNO New York staff attends UN PGA townhall

On December 2, QUNO NY Programme Assistant, Sadhbh O’Driscoll, attended the UN-Civil Society Townhall. The event was held at UN headquarters in New York with the President of the 77th General Assembly (PGA), H.E. Mr. Csaba Kőrösi. This event was jointly organized by the PGA, civil society, and the UN Department of Global Communications.

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November 2022

QUNO New York Staff Visit Cambodia

QUNO New York staff members, Sarah Clarke and Kavita Desai, traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia to join in a workshop held by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The workshop brought AFSC staff together from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States to explore ways that different AFSC programs are working towards the shared goal of building just and sustainable peace. For Kavita and Sarah, it was an opportunity to build connections with exciting work taking place in communities from around the world.

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October 2022

QUNO hosts authors from ‘Light in Gaza: Writings Born in Fire’

On 25 October, QUNO New York hosted Jehad Abusalim and Asmaa Abu Mezeid, two of the authors of the newly published anthology ‘Light in Gaza: Writings Born in Fire’, for an intimate conversation at Quaker House with QUNO staff and members of the UN Israel-Palestine NGO Working Group.

With the situation in Gaza often framed purely as a military or humanitarian issue, this conversation provided an opportunity to hear about people’s experiences under occupation.

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September 2022

QUNO NY Representative speaks on International Day of Peace panel

On the International Day of Peace, which is held every year on 21 September, QUNO NY Representative, Kavita Desai, joined the Global People’s Assembly panel discussion, Peace and Conflict Prevention - Reflections on International Day of Peace. The session, held virtually, brought together civil society organizations (CSOs) to discuss the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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July 2022

QUNO Hosts First Consultive Youth Listening Exercise

Meaningful political inclusion and participation of young people is key for building lasting peace and sustainable development.  Under its “Youth, Peace and Security” or YPS policy agenda the UN has also increasingly created opportunities for young peacebuilders. However fundamental challenges, like protection, remain and truly inclusive and partner-based policies and practices are not yet the norm. QUNO aims to build on the UN’s momentum by engaging with young people in different regions through consultative dialogues to discern the direction of our work on YPS in an inclusive way.

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June 2022

In and Around the UN

Our June 2022 newsletter shares updates from the work carried out by our New York office over recent months. Highlights include: a Q&A article on questions about the war in Ukraine and the UN; information on a new QUNO initiative on Youth, Peace and Security; the publication of our policy document, Building Peace in Times of Crisis; and news about staff comings and goings. Also hear from our new Director, Sarah Clarke, in her Director’s letter where she reflects on the state of multilateralism and the long commitment of Quaker witness at the UN.

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November 2021

In & Around the UN

Since our last newsletter in May 2021, QUNO has continued to adjust to the large changes brought about by COVID-19, as well as welcoming new staff and preparing to say goodbye to others. In the past months, the threats to peace that the world faces have become clearer, and what we must achieve has grown.

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September 2021

Let us see what Peace can do: A shared statement by peacebuilding organizations

In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly designated 21 September as the International Day of Peace in order to highlight the importance of fostering an international commitment towards peace and non-violence.

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May 2021

QUNO Co-Hosts Virtual Dialogue on Prevention with UN, Civil Society, and Member States

The Civil Society – UN Prevention Platform, co-facilitated by QUNO, hosted its first virtual event of 2021. This virtual convening, titled Advancing UN Prevention Efforts Across Sectors and Institutions: Collective Pathways for Effective Prevention, centered on the current state of prevention at the United Nations (UN), building on the Platform’s 2020 Discussion Series on Prevention.

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May 2021

In & Around the UN

Since our last newsletter in October 2020, QUNO has continued to adjust to the large changes brought about by COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd, and the drama of a bitterly contested US election. Despite all these challenges, including a now more than year-long shift to virtual work, both for our office and our partners in the UN and other peacebuilding organizations, our work has moved forward.

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January 2021

QUNO Participates in the Global Launch of the UN Community Engagement Guidelines

The Global Launch of the UN System-wide Community Engagement Guidelines (UNCEG) was an opportunity to present key recommendations from this new tool, which was designed to help strengthen partnerships between the UN and civil society for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. QUNO’s Quaker UN Representative, Megan Schmidt, joined the panel of representatives from the UN and civil society to reflect on ways forward for implementation and practical application of the recommendations.

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December 2020

QUNO Co-hosts Discussion between UN Peace and Development Advisors and Civil Society

As part of its ongoing work with Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) through the Civil Society – UN Prevention Platform, QUNO co-hosted the virtual event, Strengthening Partnerships: Preventing Conflict Together. This was the second meeting in the Platform’s series to strengthen civil society – UN collaboration through enhanced partnerships with PDAs.

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November 2020

QUNO Contributes to Preparations Ahead of UN Meeting on Impact of COVID-19

In recognition of the multifaceted and universal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s joint (virtual) session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) focused on fostering global solidarity and conflict-sensitive responses to the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic on development and peacebuilding efforts.  

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October 2020

In & Around the UN

The six months since our last newsletter have been extraordinary ones as COVID-19 hit New York in force in March. As the pandemic unfolded, QUNO staff members quickly adjusted to working from home, with staff reaching out to friends and colleagues throughout the UN system and to peacebuilding practitioners around the world, listening, supporting, and seeking to understand how these new conditions were impacting global efforts for peace.

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October 2020

UN releases system-wide Community Engagement Guidelines

As the Secretary-General boldly states in his 2020 report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, “civil society engagement and participation is indispensable to peacebuilding.” Civil society organizations (CSOs), practitioners and individual leaders are often the primary peacebuilding agents, working directly to negotiate and mediate conflict, supporting community reconciliation and rebuilding, and carrying out a range of programs and efforts to strengthen the very social fabric of society.

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September 2020

The time is now: Recommit to Peace

Established in 1981 by the unanimous agreement of the United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of Peace (21 September) is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace and a commitment towards non-violence. For the past five years, QUNO has facilitated the development and distribution of a sign on statement amongst peacebuilding organizations globally to mark the day and engage with Member States and UN stakeholders ahead of the UN General Assembly session.  

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August 2020

Connecting Civil Society Organizations and UN Peace and Development Advisors

Roslyn Akombe from DPPA moderates the session with QUNO’s UN Representative, Rachel Madenyika

As co-facilitator of the Civil Society – UN Prevention Platform, QUNO co-hosted a meeting entitled ‘Responding to Socio-economic and Humanitarian Impacts of COVID-19 Through Civil Society - Peace and Development Advisor Partnerships.’ This discussion was jointly hosted with the UN Development Programme (UNDP)-Department of Political Affairs (DPPA) Joint Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention, which currently deploys over 56 Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) around the world. 

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July 2020

Designing Effective Context-specific Upstream Prevention Programs

QUNO recently co-hosted an event titled, ‘Designing Effective Upstream Prevention Programs: Ensuring Prevention is Context-specific and Anchored in Evidence,’ the fifth discussion in the Civil Society – UN Prevention Platform’s 2020 discussion series. This meeting brought together researchers, civil society practitioners, Member States, and United Nations (UN) colleagues representing a wide range of expertise for an engaging conversation on challenges and opportunities for advancing holistic, upstream approaches to preventing violent conflict.  

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