Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)

Quakers have been active behind the scenes at the United Nations from the beginning, and in the League of Nations before that.

Quakers’ global body the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC, ) has consultative status at the UN, and QUNO was set up in 1948 to work on its behalf with the UN and its agencies. 

The small QUNO team (less than 20 all told) is based in Quaker House (New York) or Quaker House (Geneva), the main UN centres. For nearly fifty years, these Quaker Houses have provided a place where UN diplomats, staff, and nongovernmental partners can work together on difficult issues in a quiet, off-the-record atmosphere out of the public eye. 

A NZ QUNO Correspondent is appointed to keep Friends informed on the wide-ranging work of QUNO in New York and Geneva. The Correspondent writes articles for the NZ Friends Newsletter and presents information and workshops at Quaker gatherings. QUNO work areas can be developed through an issue being shared with local Quaker meetings, raised at Yearly Meetings and referred to FWCC.