Connection - United Nations Quaker Office - QUNO

Did you know there is a United Nations Quaker Office? How interesting! UNHCR colleague Siobhan Sparkes McNamara worked at QUNO last year and over lunch last Friday we discussed the Quaker approach to creating space to engage in issues which is informal, not chaired, it usually involves shared food and the aim is to develop relationship.

Here is what the QUNO website has to say about how they work:

http://www.quno.org/aboutUs/howWeWork.htm

Quakers engaged in international affairs have a long tradition of providing opportunities for people to meet on an equal footing. Such informal and off-the-record meetings, away from the pressures of public life, provide a setting for dialogue where the voices of delegations from all countries may attain equal weight and importance. These meetings encourage a greater understanding of why there are disagreements and provide an opportunity to challenge assumptions between groups, who would not otherwise have the chance to talk openly. Participants may try to find common ground or to explore difficult, controversial or sensitive issues. Staff both initiate and respond to requests for these meetings, which are held at the Quaker Houses maintained for this purpose in Geneva and New York.

Quakers are also known for speaking out against injustice and war - issues that are incompatible with their vision of a world in which peace and justice prevail.

QUNO staff work with people in the UN, multilateral organisations, government delegations and non-governmental organisations, to achieve changes in international law and practice.

This begins to answer the question of where I may find the human, the personal side on an international level for peacebuilding organizations.