On February 10th, QUNO New York hosted a group of Young Adult Friends (YAF) at Quaker House. The session was titled “Learning from Each Other: Young Adult Friends and the Quaker United Nations Office” and was organized in partnership with the New York Yearly Meeting. Over a day-long session, the group came together to exchange views on where young Friends hope for more engagement from Quaker peace practitioners, and how QUNO’s role at the UN intersects with these perspectives.  

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)’ Human Rights and Refugees Programme bought its commitment to migration justice to the United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) 5th Annual Meeting in January in Geneva. QUNO engages with these processes to meet with people working on different aspects of migration, strengthen collaboration and promote migration justice.

On January 30th, Quaker UN Representative Kavita Desai delivered a statement at the annual Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Partnership Forum. In her remarks, Kavita highlighted the essential role of civil society organisations as partners in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those that work on the frontlines of SDG implementation.

‘‘Full compliance with human rights is the best antidote to the inequalities, unaddressed grievances and exclusion which are often at the root of instability and conflict,” said Volker Türk, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) shares this understanding of the inextricable link between human rights and peace. The protection and promotion of human rights is essential for achieving sustainable peace and in turn sustaining peace can help promote and protect human rights and create just and equitable societies. 

QUNO NY joined a Northeast Asia Peace Games simulation at the Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia on December 3rd. The Peace Game was organized through a partnership between the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). 

To commemorate International Migrants Day held on 18 December annually, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) is launching a practical guide as part of its Regional Migration Reviews publication series. International Migrants Day acknowledges the important contributions of migrants globally and recognizes the challenges they continue to encounter.

QUNO New York is now accepting Programme Assistant (PA) applications for the 2024-2025 year. QUNO New York works in close partnership with UN diplomats and officials to increase the global commitment to the UN’s role in building lasting peace. We believe that the UN will only fulfill this aspect of its mandate when its peace initiatives truly respond to community needs, and we seek to build bridges between the UN in New York and voices from the ground.

Status: Full - Time, Specific Term (12 months) Beginning September 1, 2024

Location: New York, NY

On December 1, QUNO staff in New York kicked off the new month by hosting a breakfast meeting at Quaker House on the situation in Myanmar. The meeting brought diplomats together to hear a briefing by Min Zin, Executive Director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy, regarding the complex and rapidly evolving situation in Myanmar.

The most difficult climate change Conference of Parties (COP) since the Paris Agreement (2015) has just finished. The mood in Dubai is sober and exhausted; there is little elation.  QUNO’s analysis will follow in the next days, but for now we can say that true urgency, equity and wealthy country leadership commitment remain deeply insufficient. Still, certain taboos on fossil fuels and international finance dysfunction are shifting, alongside improved focus on Adaptation and Loss and Damage.