Timeline

Sustainable & Just Economic Systems

November 2023

New Report: Strategies for Asian Countries to End Plastic Pollution

Against the backdrop of Asia’s struggle with burgeoning plastic waste, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) has published a new report that delves into the complex challenges and potential strategies for addressing this problem in the region.

QUNO’s report, ‘Trade and Plastics — Fostering Sustainable Development in South East Asia’, was issued by its Sustainable and Just Economic Systems programme this month (November).

It focuses on plastic pollution in Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam and highlights the pressing need for systemic changes. 

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November 2023

INC-3: Plastic pollution meetings need direction to avoid failure

The recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) meeting on ending plastic pollution raised concerns about the pace and direction of negotiations to finalise a legally binding treaty.

This was UNEP’s third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee — it was called INC-3 — and it concluded last week in Kenya, Nairobi. INC aims to gather various stakeholders to create an agreement that would hold governments accountable to enforce laws to curb plastic pollution.

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November 2023

Diplomats, stakeholders gear up for United Nations meeting to end plastic pollution

As part of its quiet diplomacy efforts, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva recently hosted 22 diplomats and other stakeholders to discuss strategies towards ending plastic pollution.

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September 2023

QUNO’s Contributions to INC-3 Webinar Series on Plastic Pollution

In preparation for the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment (INC-3), taking place from November 13-19, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya, the INC Secretariat facilitated a series of technical webinars. Two of these sessions allowed observers to present submissions that could inform the committee's work.

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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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August 2023

Students work with QUNO towards just economic systems

Young people have over the years participated in Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) programmes in various ways.

QUNO’s offices in Geneva and New York annually employ programme assistants for a year to work with its Representatives at the United Nations (UN). Programme assistants research and write about developments in QUNO’s focus areas and assist with quiet diplomacy meetings at Quaker House from where QUNO works in close proximity to the UN headquarters in Geneva and New York.

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June 2023

QUNO's Role at the Paris INC: Shaping Global Solutions to End Plastic Pollution

Ending plastic pollution globally remains a top priority for the Sustainable and Just Economic Systems (SJES) programme at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Recently, SJES participated in the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) focused on a treaty to end plastic pollution. This initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded in Paris at the beginning of June, gathering various civil society organisations lobbying to end plastic pollution.

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April 2023

Upcoming Event: Webinar and Quiet Diplomacy Dinner on Trade-Related Measures for a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

We would like to inform you of an upcoming event on the 26th of April 2023, co-hosted by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). The event will consist of a follow-up webinar from 4-6 pm CET, focusing on trade-related measures in the context of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) towards a treaty to end plastic pollution. Following the webinar, a quiet diplomacy dinner will be held at Quaker House in Geneva, starting at 7:15 pm.

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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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March 2023

Countries adopt landmark treaty to protect the world’s oceans

Late in the evening on 4 March 2023, the United Nations adopted a historic treaty to protect the world’s oceans. The Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, or the BBNJ, reached agreement on what is widely being referred to as the High Seas Treaty. This came after weeks of grueling negotiations that built upon over two decades of talks on the issue.

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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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December 2022

QUNO Stresses the Importance of Adopting Package-less and Reuse Systems to Address Plastics Pollution in a Workshop Organised by the WTO and UNCTAD

QUNO participated in a workshop on sustainable and effective substitutes and alternatives for plastics, co-organized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The workshop offered a scoping, stocktaking, and trade facilitation exercise of prospective plastics substitutes and alternatives, and provided participants with a strong technical foundation for more in-depth talks on sustainable, tradable, and effective pla

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December 2022

QUNO Attends Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution

From 28 November to 2 December 2022, the first session of the Intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Negotiations were held to make initial progress on the development of a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

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November 2022

QUNO highlights the role of the informal waste sector in African inclusive circular economy transitions

QUNO has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF South Africa) to demonstrate how the informal waste sector (IWS) can be mainstreamed into policy mechanisms and implementation efforts designed to address plastic pollution. 

At our joint webinar on 7 November 2022 we brought together specialists including reclaimer advocates, county-level officials, academics and just transition experts.

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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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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 Delivers Statement at an informal discussion with stakeholders engaged in the work of the Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP).

Acknowledging the strong momentum and action around issues of plastics pollution and marine plastics litter, QUNO participated in an informal discussion with stakeholders engaged in the work of the WTO's Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP). The meeting was convened by the IDP co-coordinators, and facilitated by Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs.

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