QUNO Geneva's Peace & Disarmament program works to highlight and reinforce the inextricable link between human rights and peace and to ensure that they are seen as mutually reinforcing throughout the UN's work at the policy and practice level, reaching out o a diverse range of stakeholders and in doing so to promote just, peaceful, and inclusive societies. Read more about our most recent activities and work on this in the booklet!
QUNO Geneva's Peace & Disarmament program works on highlighting the arms-related risks to human rights and tackling the challenges in addressing these risks by building effective arms controls at the international level. Read more about how we do that in this booklet.
Peacebuilding has been viewed mainly as post-conflict intervention at the United Nations (UN), but the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) believes peace work is needed throughout the conflict cycle. QUNO takes a human rights-based approach to achieve sustaining peace. Focusing on human rights towards peacebuilding can further reduce the risk of violent conflict, end hostilities through inclusive processes and move towards reconciliation and just recovery. Often, human rights violations can be indicators of root causes of destructive conflict. Conversely, peace is fundamentally linked to human rights, social and economic justice, and political participation. Florence Foster, QUNO’s Peace and Disarmament programme Representative at the UN, elaborated on the organisation’s approach at Geneva Peace Week during a panel discussion this week. She said it was vital to take an intersectional view of peacebuilding as well as including all pillars of the UN with its different agencies to this end. She said that more work is needed, despite the considerable paradigm shift within the UN in the last years — from a limited understanding of peacebuilding as post-conflict activities, delivered nearly exclusively by its peace & security architecture, towards recognising that all pillars of the UN are relevant to delivering peace dividends throughout […]
The report 'Integrating Human Rights and Sustaining Peace: Exploring Special Procedures' is based on a joint project undertaken by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in collaboration with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs' Peacebuilding Support Office (DPPA/PBSO). The joint project sought to pilot activities to explore how special procedures of the Human Rights Council could better integrate human rights and sustaining peace in their work and enhance prevention of both conflict and human rights violations across all pillars of the United Nations (UN). While the report does not claim to be comprehensive, it hopes to serve as a basis for continued reflection, learning and discussions in the lead-up to 2024 Summit of the Future, when the UN system is prioritizing prevention as illustrated in the policy brief on the 'New Agenda for Peace'.
On September 19th, world leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York for the opening of the 78thSession of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). This particular gathering comes at a time when the need for global cooperation is critical, with multiple crises needing to be addressed in addition to recent and tragic natural disasters that have occurred around the world. This somber backdrop to the UN’s opening led Secretary-General António Guterres to describe this moment as one where, “many of the world’s challenges coalesced in an awful hellscape,” highlighting the failings of the international community in the face of a “sad snapshot of the state of our world – the flood of inequality, of injustice, of inability to confront the challenges in our midst.” QUNO staff carefully monitored statements during these high-level meetings, watching for UN member states that may be open for engagement and partnership during the coming year. Ultimately, building collaboration with diplomats and UN staff represents a key ingredient in our efforts to bolster the UN as a leader for peace. These high-level presentations that happen every September provide the UN with key areas to focus its efforts on during the months to come and offer […]
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