AFSC’s work at United Nations is a collaboration with the Friends World Committee for Consultation carried out through Quaker UN offices in New York and Geneva, together known as QUNO.
Quakers have been closely linked with the UN since its creation in 1945. The Quaker UN Office in New York was established in 1947, soon after Friends in the U.S. and UK were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1953, Quaker House in New York was given to AFSC by donors to support a permanent Quaker presence at the UN. Quaker House continues to be an important place for informal, off-the-record meetings hosted and facilitated by QUNO staff for members of the UN community.
Historically, Friends have directly influenced the policy agenda at the UN on numerous issues, most notably the Mine Ban Treaty and Child Soldiers. More recently, QUNO New York has played a significant role in promoting the inclusion of a peace goal in Agenda 2030 and in supporting a more holistic approach to UN Peacebuilding and Prevention.
In June 1978, Salome Nolega David, representing the Friends World Committee for Consultation, addressed a special session of the UN General Assembly on disarmament.
Pictured are QUNO Director Sydney Bailey, who headed the Quakers' United Nations office from 1954 to 1958, and his wife Brenda Bailey, Director of Quaker House.
In 2004, QUNO hosted an event at the United Nations, to discuss female child soldiers. Lori Heninger, Kate Hunt, and Yvonne Keairns led the discussion.
Andrew Tomlinson, QUNO Director, participates in a meeting on the 2010 review of the UN's Peacebuilding Commission at the International Peace Institute (IPI) along with Ambassador Anne Anderson, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN, Colin Keating, former Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN, and Ed Luck with IPI.
In June 2015, QUNO hosted a meeting with several Palestinian refugees at Quaker House in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
In March 2016, QUNO hosted a reception at Quaker House to honor the organization's 70th anniversary of work at the UN.
