Quaker United Nations Offices in New York + Geneva.
The United Nations defines itself as an international organisation of countries set up to promote international peace, security, and cooperation. As the world body for the Religious Society of Friends, FWCC holds General Consultative Status at the United Nations (UN), giving Quaker United Nations Offices (QUNO) the highest level of accreditation at the UN. Through this, QUNO acts on Quaker concerns at the United Nations.
FWCC supports both Quaker United Nations Offices (QUNO), in part, by appointing half of the members of the governing committees, and the FWCC General Secretary serves ex officio on both committees. The FWCC appointees are drawn from the four Sections in order to ensure broad Quaker representation and to promote QUNO’s work among Friends. The committees set strategic direction, discern program priorities, and ensure organisational stability. The committees help root QUNO’s work in Quaker testimonies as QUNO goes about the work of peacebuilding, human rights and refugees, just economic systems, and climate change.
For more information on QUNO, visit their joint web site at www.quno.org
Crime Commission
FWCC also engages at the United Nations through the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). The Commission meets annually in Vienna and every five years the Commission holds an International Congress.
The FWCC Crimes Commission Committee, which functions fairly independently with some FWCC logistical support, participates in the meetings, offers presentations, and reviews the work that guides the activities of the United Nations in the fields of crime prevention and criminal justice. The committee is self-appointed and is comprised of people with extensive interest and experience in criminal justice.
At the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Kyoto, Japan in March 2021, Quakers from the United Kingdom and Australia gave a presentation on restorative justice, which can be viewed below:
At the 33rd session of the United Nations’ Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) held in Vienna, Austria in May 2024, Quakers presented a further leaflet on restorative justice around the world, which can be viewed and printed here.