The Quaker United Nations Office works on children of parents sentenced to death or executed first and foremost because we believe that such children should not be forgotten and their rights should be upheld.  The 2016 World Congress Against the Death Penalty recognized that the impact of a death sentence on the children of parents sentenced to death or executed represents a powerful argument against the death penalty.

On a recent visit to Beirut, Andrew Tomlinson, Director of QUNO New York, was invited to offer some reflections on reconciliation to a group of experts engaged in regional humanitarian and development action.

An essential part of QUNO’s work to promote peacebuilding and prevention at the UN is to ensure that diverse voices inform discussions, particularly practitioners working at the local level and communities that would be impacted by policies. In May, QUNO hosted, Getry Agizah, a Kenyan Quaker, and Coordinator of the Friends Church Peace Teams (FCPT)/ Transforming Communities for Social Change (TCSC) to share her work on peacebuilding at the community level. Getry, a proud peace builder, works tirelessly to transform societies in the western Kenya region.

QUNO's third paper on the process towards developing a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration will focus on mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and accountability in international agreements. Here we publish some initial reflections based on work to date analysing different implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms from various UN treaties and agreements. A full paper will follow shortly.

On the opening day of the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (SB46) in Bonn, QUNO co-hosted a side event titled, ‘A Negotiator's tool kit: Engaging Ministries with effective arguments for urgent climate action’.  The event, co-hosted with DeMontfort University, Newcastle University and the Brahma Kumaris, with our Human Impacts of Climate Change Representative, Lindsey Fielder Cook, who moderated the discussion. 

On 19 and 20 June, QUNO was joined by representatives from peacebuilding organizations from around the world for an annual retreat on 'What’s Next in Peacebuilding?'. As part of this two-day meeting, QUNO hosted a lunch event on 29 June on the same subject, inviting colleagues from the UN and Member States, as well as members of civil society organizations for the discussion. 

On 19 June, the Quaker UN Representative for the Prevention of Violent Conflict Program, Rachel Madenyika, made a statement on behalf of the Civil Society - UN Prevention Platform. The event was attended by the Member States, UN actors, and Civil Society representatives.

On Sunday 11, prior to the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), QUNO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), co-hosted a preliminary meeting with about 20 experts on the subjects. SDG 2, which aims to ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture,’ will be reviewed at the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) this July, together with SDGs 1, 3, 5, 9, 14, and 17.