Timeline

September 2022

Building Toward Migration Justice with all the Tools in the Toolbox: Complementarity Between the Global Compact for Migration and the Convention on Migrant Workers

On 27 September, speaking at the Committee on Migrant Workers Day of General Discussion on the convergence between the Global Compact for Migration and the Convention on Migrant Workers, our Human Rights and Refugees Representative, Laurel Townhead, highlighted the value of using the respective strengths of these instruments and their follow up mechanisms. Laurel said: 

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September 2022

World leaders gather for opening of 77th session of UN General Assembly

Every year world leaders gather at UN headquarters in New York for the opening of the General Assembly (UNGA), with 2022 marking the first fully in person session since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 77th session of the UNGA opened on 13 September, under the theme “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.” This year’s opening took place against a challenging global backdrop - the impact of the war in Ukraine, ongoing food and climate crises, rising economic costs and the continued recovery from COVID-19.

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September 2022

QUNO NY’s Director delivers Pendle Hill lecture on lessons from Bayard Rustin

On 12 September, QUNO New York Director, Sarah Clarke, delivered the Steven G. Carey Memorial lecture at the Quaker center, Pendle Hill. With over 500 Friends registering to join in person and online, Sarah spoke on ‘Strategizing for Change: Applying lessons from the Life of Bayard Rustin to Quaker Work at the UN.

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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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October 2022

Saving Lives and Listening to those Most Affected: Key Actions for the UN Network on Migration

It is five months since States met at the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) to assess implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and agree priorities to accelerate action. The Annual Meeting of the UN Network on Migration in October brought together nearly 700 participants, including over 160 in person, from governments, UN agencies, and stakeholders to outline next steps. 

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October 2022

Financing Climate Solutions via Sovereign Debt Reduction: A webinar raising awareness on a key issue for COP27

On 25 October 2022, QUNO and the Catholic Climate Covenant co-hosted a webinar on sovereign debt reduction. COP27 is promising to be heavily focused on concerns about financing climate change mitigation and adaptation. Sovereign debt reduction is increasingly being spoken about as a "solution" to climate financing. Experts spoke on important questions that must be considered when discussing this subject.

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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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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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October 2022

A transformation at Quaker House New York

In New York, autumn has brought cooler temperatures and fall color, and the pace of activity has moved into high gear following the opening of the 77th UN General Assembly. There is new energy in the UN halls and meeting rooms, as diplomats leave online meetings behind and come back together in person. For QUNO NY staff, we are excited to reconnect with old colleagues while also building relationships with diplomats and UN staff who have arrived in New York more recently.

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October 2022

Transformation for Racial Justice: Nothing can be changed until it is faced

On 3 October, QUNO Geneva engaged with the work of the Human Rights Council on systemic racism.

Speaking in the first dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on Law Enforcement and Racism, Director Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge drew on her own experience of police violence in apartheid South Africa. Welcoming the work of the Expert Mechanism and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nozizwe went on to say:

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October 2022

QUNO NY Staff Comings & Goings

The support and contributions of Programme Assistants (PAs) are critical to QUNO NY’s United Nations efforts. Our colleagues come to QUNO for this 13-month position from throughout the world to contribute to the work and witness of Quakers at the UN. Every year our office then has the tradition of welcoming our incoming PAs and bidding farewell to those who have finished their time with us.

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November 2022

Second Week of COP27 (14-20 November 2022)

The Human Impacts of Climate Change representative, Lindsey Fielder Cook, and HICC programme assistant, Alana Marie Carlson, continued in the second week of COP27 to focus on urgent, fair, and transformative climate action, and financial support to loss and damage. Join us on 8 December 2022 at 15h CET for a debrief on COP27. Register here!

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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

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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November 2022

QUNO New York Joins Panel on Strengthening the UN

QUNO New York UN Representative Kavita Desai joined a panel on November 3rd hosted by the Baha’i International Community (BIC) and the Coalition for the United Nations We Need, entitled “Tipping the Scales: Proposals for UN Reform in a Time of Need.”

The discussion included reflections on proposals for reform, as well as an exploration on how such proposals can be implemented—getting from ideation to actualization, in the words of one attendee.

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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

First Week of COP27 (6 – 12 November 2022)

QUNO’s team at the COP27 are the Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC), Lindsey Fielder Cook, and HICC programme assistant Alana Marie Carlson. Our priorities include urgent, fair, and transformative climate action, and financial support to Loss and Damage. Lindsey attended pre-COP meetings of the Katowice Committee of Experts, which addresses transitions for fossil fuel dependent economies.  Lindsey also joined virtually some 400 children in India to celebrate and encourage their efforts to define “Ecological Rights for Ch

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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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November 2022

QUNO NY Committee Member Spotlight

QUNO is governed by a Committee of Friends appointed by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). We’re excited to spotlight the insights and experiences of a committee member and are delighted to share reflections from QUNC member, Dick Erstad. Dick has had a long history of work within Quaker organizations.

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