Welcome to the Quaker United Nations Office!

Peaceable Kingdom by Quaker artist Edward Hicks. Copyright©2005 National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Over the past sixty years, Quakers have sought to support the work of the UN and its vision, like that of Edward Hicks, of a world where opposing forces could live together in peace.

The Quaker United Nations Office, located in Geneva and New York, represents Quakers through Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, Quakers have shared that organisation's aims and supported its efforts to abolish war and promote peaceful resolution of conflicts, human rights, economic justice and good governance.

FWCC, which links Quakers around the world, has had consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council as an international non-governmental organisation since 1948. In July 2002, FWCC was moved from Special Status to General Status. By this move, the UN has recognized that Friends do work of importance in a very broad range of international concerns.

This status allows the QUNO staff to attend many UN meetings, to receive documents and to make written and oral statements and to suggest agenda items to the Economic and Social Council. QUNO staff also work with other multilateral organisations, such as the World Trade Organisation, International Labour Organisation, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others relevant to our areas of concern. Click here to learn more about our status at the U.N.

Most Recent QUNO Publications:

• VAHAN BAYATYAN Applicant -VS-ARMENIA Respondent Government before the European Court of Human Rights, Amicus Brief from Amnesty International, Conscience and Peace Tax International, International Commission of Jurists, War Resisters' International, Friends World Committee for Consultation (pdf 239 kb)
• 10 Wishes, 11 June 2010, presentation given at a side-event of the 14th Session of the Human Rights Council (pdf 278kb)
• Annual Report - QUNO Geneva, 2009 (pdf 744kb)
• Geneva Reporter, February - June 2010 (pdf 919 kb)
• Nuclear non-proliferation treaty moves ahead, J. Thwaites in The Friend, 9 June 2010
• Children of Prisoners , Holly Mason-White, Introduction by Rachel Brett, April 2010 (pdf 260 kb)
• Human Rights of Women Prisoners and Children of Prisoners, 8 June 2010 FWCC oral statement delivered by Rachel Brett to 14th session of the Human Rights council (pdf 26kb)
• In & Around the U.N., June 2010 (pdf 340kb)
• Conscientious Objection to Military Service, 14 May 2010, written statement submitted by FWCC to the 14th session of the Human Rights Council (pdf 37kb)
• Children of Prisoners, 14 May 2010, written statement submitted by FWCC to the 14th session of the Human Rights Council (pdf 36kb)
• Failure is not an option, J. Thwaites in The Friend, 12 May 2010
• Security, Peacebuilding & Civil Society, presented at the EU-ISS seminar,"Peacebuilding and the Security-Development Nexus", in Section 1 "Security, global governance and peacebuilding: What institutions and resources for sustainable peace?", A. Tomlinson, April 2010 (pdf 214 kb)