Timeline

Peace & Disarmament

QUNO’s peace and disarmament work in Geneva recognizes the relationship between peace, development and the environment.
September 2023

Arms industry tactics avoid human rights responsibility

The irresponsible role of the arms industry needs to be addressed as part of preventing violence and human rights violations committed with firearms globally.

This was part of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) Peace & Disarmament programme’s recent response (also see attachment below) to an analysis of the arms industry by the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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August 2023

Geneva Reporter newest edition online for download

Every few months, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva publishes the Geneva Reporter newsletter. In this latest September 2023 edition we share stories about how our staff found their path to Quaker House in Geneva, report on our annual Quaker United Nations Summer School held recently, and have a Q&A with one of our programme assistants who is wrapping up a year of working with our Human Rights & Refugees programme.

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April 2023

Ireland Yearly Meeting 2023 – QUNO Geneva speaks on ‘Preparing for Peace: How can we prepare for peace?’

Florence Foster, Representative for Peace & Disarmament at QUNO Geneva, had the pleasure of joining Irish Friends in Tallaght for Ireland Yearly Meeting 2023 on ‘Building Community Together’, and was invited to speak on ‘Preparing for Peace: How can we prepare for peace?’ alongside Iain Atack.

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April 2023

QUNO Geneva leads on human rights and conventional arms discussion for the Geneva Consultations on the New Agenda for Peace

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.

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March 2023

QUNO Review 2023

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.

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March 2023

QUNO: 75 Years of a Trusted Presence at the United Nations

This year, 2023, marks 75 years since the Quakers United Nations Office (QUNO) was founded in 1948. QUNO represents Quakers at the United Nations (UN) and related multilateral institutions, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

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January 2023

Quaker United Nations Summer School 2023 - Applications Now Open

We are excited to announce the return of summer school! This year's program will be in person for the first time since 2019. Our 12-day residential programme takes place at the heart of international governance in Geneva, Switzerland.  Summer school together a diverse group of individuals to learn about pressing international concerns, develop professional skills, and build a like-minded community. Participants will be equipped with the skills to think constructively about the value of the multilateral system and international politics while enjoying opportunities to discover Geneva.

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January 2023

QUNO highlights the importance of the arms sector when discussing responsible business conduct

During the 11th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights | OHCHR, QUNO Geneva partnered with American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, the University of Washington School of Law, PAX and Amnesty International to co-organize a virtual side event titled “Responsible Business Conduct - the case of the arms sector”

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November 2022

Geneva Peace Week 2022 (part 3/3) - QUNO moderates High Level Panel on ‘Rights, Inequalities and Peace: navigating tensions, finding opportunities”

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly combines the promotion of peaceful, just, and inclusive societies in its Goal 16, which ‘seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.’

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November 2022

Geneva Peace Week 2022 (part 2/3) - QUNO continues to spotlight human rights, social and economic justice, and political participation as foundational to sustainable peace

As one of the founding organizations of the Geneva Peace Platform (GPP), QUNO Geneva continues to play a role in the development of the week’s areas of focus, and on bringing attention to the relationship between human rights and sustainable peace.

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November 2022

Geneva Peace Week 2022 (part 1/3) - QUNO Geneva believes ‘Peace is Possible’ at the Opening Ceremony

The Geneva Peace Week 2022 took place from 31st October to 4th November 2022. It is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar where Geneva-based organizations and their international partners come together to share knowledge and practices on a diverse range of topics relating to the promotion of peace across contexts and disciplines. This year’s overarching theme was ‘Peace is Possible’.

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October 2022

Quaker Statement on the Peace Testimony and Ukraine

Quakers are a people who follow after peace, love and unity. Our peace testimony is our witness to the Truth as we experience it. 

Our testimony manifests as a cumulative set of actions, continually tested and added to over centuries.  These actions are diverse in form, but have been broadly united by: 1) Refusal to kill, 2) Relief of suffering, 3) Building the institutions of peace, and 4) Supporting peacebuilding and removing the causes of war. 

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September 2022

Our latest Geneva Reporter newsletter is now available online

QUNO's September 2022 issue of the Geneva Reporter newsletter is available below. This issue includes a welcome letter from our Director Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, reporting on the International Migration Review Forum as well as updates from our programmes Peace and Disarmament (P&D), Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) and Sustainable and Just Economic Systems (SJES).

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May 2022

QUNO Geneva speaks at “Building the Bridge: Virtual Launch Event for UNIDIR’s Arms-Related Risk Analysis Toolkit”

On 5th May 2022, QUNO Geneva’s Representative for Peace and Disarmament, Florence Foster, was an expert speaker at the virtual launch of UNIDIR’s Arms-Related Risk Analysis Toolkit. The Toolkit is designed to guide efforts to integrate conventional arms and ammunition-related risks into conflict analysis and conflict prevention, management, and resolution efforts.

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March 2022

75 Years at the UN: The 2022 QUNO Review

The Quaker UN Office is celebrating 75 years of a Quaker Presence at the United Nations. Learn more about the work our office has carried out over this year to represent the concerns of Friends as we seek a UN that implements inclusive policies for peace. The annual review provides a brief introduction to QUNO’s way of working and an overview of the programmes carried out in our New York and Geneva offices, as well as our work ahead in the coming year.

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March 2022

QUNO welcomes OHCHRs report on achieving and upholding the principles of the UN Charter – HRC49

At the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council, Florence Foster, QUNO’s Representative for Peace and Disarmament delivered a statement to welcome OHCHR report 49/88 on the contribution of [...] all human rights [...] to achieving the purposes and upholding the principles of the UN Charter. 

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March 2022

QUNO welcomes OHCHRs report on delivery and financing of capacity building, technical assistance and prevention – HRC49

Florence Foster, Representative for Peace and Disarmament, delivered a statement at the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council to welcome the OHCHR report 49/68 on [...] technical assistance and capacity-building that support the implementation by States of their international human rights obligations and commitments’ pursuant to the so called ‘prevention’ resolution 45/31.

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