QUNO has established a new meeting space in Bonn, from which the new Climate Change Representative, Lindsey Fielder Cook, will work.  This new location enables QUNO staff to work closely with Bonn-based organisations focused on climate change and environmental issues.  The space is set between the woods and the UN Offices in Bonn and is heated by a variety of green energy sources.  

Our New York office is now hiring Programme Assistants for 2014-2015. These are entry-level positions for recent college graduates who are interested in international affairs and the UN, and who have a commitment to Friends (Quaker) principles of peace, non-violence, and equality.  The positions provide those individuals selected with an informal extension to their education in international issues. Additionally, PAs gain the practical experience of assisting QUNO New York staff with program and administrative tasks.

QUNO’s Caroline Dommen was a panellist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) discussion forum, “Why Trade Matters in Development Strategies”. The panel gathered experts on trade and food security to foster dialogue between Geneva trade diplomats and national officials in charge of development planning.

A diverse and engaged group of UN staff, member states, and civil society members gathered at Quaker House in New York on 7 November to hear a group of leading Chinese academics share their work on Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region. It was a lively conversation, with many personal anecdotes and the sharing of experiences from many different actors.

Read QUNO Geneva's newsletter for the period July to October 2013. Features stories:

• Children of parents sentenced to death or executed
• New framework for trade and investment in agriculture
• Conscientious objection to military service
• New energy on nuclear disarmament
• Highlights from QUNO New York

QUNO attended the UNFCCC Joint Workshop on the Framework for Various Approaches, Non-Market-Based Approaches and the New Market Mechanism in Bonn, Germany.

Lindsey Cook, representing QUNO, highlighted that current global emission rates are at "top end of ... emissions scenarios", likely leading to increased temperatures of 4.2 to 5 centigrade by 2100. She encouraged negotiators to act on the "small window to keep rising global temperatures below 2.6 degrees Centigrade", and spoke of negotiators’ "extraordinarily privileged position to act positively".

QUNO publishes a new report, ‘Building peace around water, land and food: Policy and practice for preventing conflict’.

Together with the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and the United Nations Inter-Agency Framework Team for Preventive Action, QUNO hosted the New York launch of IEP’s new study “Pillars of Peace”, with Mr Steve Killelea AM, Founder and Executive Chair, on 27 September 2013. This new research sets out to understand and measure the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. Read more and download the report.