QUNO Geneva recently hosted its annual Quaker UN Summer School (QUNSS) from July 1 to 12, 2024, organized around the theme "The Puzzle of International Geneva: Working Together for a Just, Equitable, and Peaceful Future for All." Through this theme, the programme explored how States, UN organizations, international groups, civil society, and grassroots organizations engage with one another and the mechanisms in Geneva. The participants learned where QUNO fits in the puzzle, using our dialogue and a commitment to the long term to advocate for peace, justice, and sustainability.   

QUNO’S Peace & Disarmament programme based in Geneva recently participated in the George Washington International Law Review Symposium, “A world under fire: examining the global impact of gun trafficking and violence”.

Florence Foster, the programme’s Representative, outlined how QUNO has worked at the United Nations (UN), with multilateral organisations, government delegations and non-governmental organisations to achieve change in international standards and practice on arms control – with a particular focus on corporate responsibility in the arms sector. 

As 2024 begins, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) Geneva’s Peace and Disarmament programme has focused on its work on corporate responsibility in the arms trade, emphasising people at the center of arms control discourses and ensuring that states and businesses uphold their roles and responsibilities. 

Every few months, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva publishes the Geneva Reporter newsletter. In this latest December 2023 edition we share updates on our programmes, links to our latest publications and offer a message of hope. 

Geneva Reporter is freely available for download at the link further down on this page. We would appreciate it if you share it with anyone who might be interested in our work at the United Nations. Enjoy reading! 

“In the current multidimensional crisis, the social contract between governments and their people and between groups in society is eroding. The transformational potential of human rights in their entirety – economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights – are part of a just and sustainable solution to such problems.”      

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.

Florence Foster, Representative for Peace & Disarmament at QUNO Gevena, spoke at the Human Rights Council 53rd Session during the Interactive Dialogue on casualty recording.

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.

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).