Quaker United Nations Office
Staff spoke of their work at Yearly Meeting
Climate change. Peacebuilding. Control of seeds. Children of prisoners. What do these issues have in common? They are all work areas at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO). In a wide-ranging special interest group on Saturday, three staff members from QUNO’s Geneva office talked about their current priorities. Oliver Robertson described the work being done on the problems of children of prisoners and how, over several years, diplomats have moved from not thinking about the issue to wanting to know how to fix it and taking action.
Lynn Finnegan spoke about QUNO’s work on intellectual property around seeds – a technical and often ignored subject that can have a major impact on world food supplies and small farmers’ ability to experiment and grow new varieties of crops.
Finally, Jonathan Woolley, director of QUNO Geneva, told Friends how the organisation is linking its programmes, drawing on staff expertise in peacebuilding, agriculture, human rights and climate change to look together at the possibility of conflict or cooperation over natural resources like water and food. QUNO’s ability to explore new and innovative ways of working, he explained, is due to the financial and spiritual support of Quakers, which mean we can take a more effective and long term view than many other organisations around the UN.
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