QUNO

On 10th November, and in partnership with the Geneva Human Rights Platform at the Geneva Academy and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, QUNO hosted an event with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (UN Working Group) to discuss their latest report to the General Assembly focused on conflict-affected areas.

QUNO has been working on the human rights of migrants at the international level to promote the protection of human rights of all regardless of migration status. Recently, QUNO has been working more on relating structural racism to migration policies, this work recognises that in order to achieve migration justice we must understand the role racism plays in migration laws and policy.

In recognition of the impact of COVID-19 on the world and global peace and security, the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) has convened a series of conversations that have welcomed UN staff working at both the country level and headquarters level to share insights on their understanding of peacebuilding in the context of the pandemic. QUNO Director, Andrew Tomlinson, was invited to be interviewed for such a discussion, with QUNO serving as the first civil society organization to share reflections in this series.

The six months since our last newsletter have been extraordinary ones as COVID-19 hit New York in force in March. As the pandemic unfolded, QUNO staff members quickly adjusted to working from home, with staff reaching out to friends and colleagues throughout the UN system and to peacebuilding practitioners around the world, listening, supporting, and seeking to understand how these new conditions were impacting global efforts for peace.

QUNO was pleased to have actively engaged in the informal negotiations of a landmark new UN Human Rights Council resolution on prevention. The resolution, led by a core group of Norway, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and Uruguay, was adopted by vote at the 45th session of the Council with 32 in favour, 11 abstentions and 3 against.

The resolution included significant elements that QUNO had supported and highlighted, including: