Quaker United Nations Office

What Quaker United Nations Office does

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) is a non-governmental advocacy organization founded in 1948 that maintains a permanent presence at the United Nations in Geneva and New York. The organization employs approximately 23 staff and operates four core program areas: Human Impacts of Climate Change, Human Rights & Refugees, Peace & Disarmament, and Sustainable & Just Economic Systems. QUNO does not develop technology products; its outputs are policy research, joint statements, amicus briefs, and direct 'quiet diplomacy' with UN diplomats and member-state delegations. Its method of influence is sustained, in-person engagement over decades rather than scale-driven campaigning.

QUNO's business model is donation-funded. Primary revenue comes from Quaker organizations and individual Quaker donors, supplemented by project-restricted grants such as those from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for research on plastic-pollution finance. The organization holds General Consultative Status at UN ECOSOC, a designation that provides structured access to UN proceedings. Partnerships with major NGOs — including GPPAC on conflict prevention, Eunomia on plastic research, and IUCN and WWF on environmental issues — extend QUNO's reach well beyond its small staff base.

The organization publishes research and convenes stakeholders on issues including conscientious objection to military service, landmines, climate adaptation, and economic justice. Recent engagement includes submissions to the European Court of Human Rights, joint statements at UN climate negotiations, and convening of civil society actors during major UN events such as Peacebuilding Week and the High-Level Political Forum. The operating model is therefore best understood as a small, values-anchored convening and advocacy body whose leverage comes from credibility and access rather than scale.

Name

Quaker United Nations Office

Legal name

Quaker United Nations Office

Website

https://quno.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Quaker United Nations Office is a non-governmental organization founded in 1948 that conducts advocacy at the United Nations in Geneva and New York on climate change, human rights, peace and disarmament, and economic justice, employing approximately 23 staff.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Policy Advocacy

akta.pro primary industry

Peace, Security & Arms Control Organizations (BPADAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environment, Climate & Sustainable Development IGOs (BPADAAAI)

Keywords

• UN policy advocacy
• Peacebuilding programs
• Human rights advocacy
• Climate justice advocacy
• Disarmament policy work

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

QUNO is a Quaker advocacy presence at the United Nations that promotes justice, peace, and sustainability through policy research, quiet diplomacy, and engagement with UN bodies in Geneva and New York. It works across six thematic areas (climate change, human rights and refugees, peace and disarmament, sustainable economic systems, and UN peacebuilding globally and regionally), producing publications, briefing papers, and joint statements and facilitating dialogue between civil society and UN officials.

Product overview

Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) is not a technology product company but rather a Quaker advocacy organization at the United Nations. The organization's 'products' consist of advocacy programs and publications rather than software or technology offerings. QUNO operates through four main program areas: Human Impacts of Climate Change, Human Rights & Refugees, Peace & Disarmament, and Sustainable & Just Economic Systems. Its content portfolio includes the QUNO Review annual report, Geneva Reporter newsletter, In & Around the UN newsletter, the Plastic Money research series (in partnership with Eunomia Research & Consulting), and a comprehensive resources archive containing research papers, briefing papers, and position statements spanning topics from conscientious objection to military service, trade and food security, children of incarcerated parents, and international climate negotiations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Supporting the UN's Role for Peace Globally QUNO New York program strengthening the norms, policies, and practices guiding the UN's role in building sustainable peace that centers the needs of communities, focused on UN commitments, processes, and institutions anchoring the UN's peace work.
• Supporting the UN's Role for Peace in Regional Contexts QUNO New York program engaging diplomats and UN officials around specific country and regional contexts, working closely with UN diplomats, officials, and civil society organizations and using Quaker House as a convening space.
• Human Impacts of Climate Change QUNO Geneva program working for effective, fair and ambitious climate action and environmental protection, focused on the human impacts of climate change and ensuring rights and dignity are upheld in the face of a changing climate, including engagement at UNFCCC negotiations.
• Human Rights & Refugees QUNO Geneva program strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights through the United Nations system, with particular reference to the interface between human rights and refugees, working on international law, standards, and processes that uphold the inherent worth of each person.
• Peace & Disarmament QUNO Geneva program working for holistic approaches that address the seeds of war, including inequality, injustice, and the proliferation of arms, with sub-focus areas on disarmament and arms control, natural resources/conflict cooperation, and sustaining peace.
• Sustainable & Just Economic Systems QUNO Geneva program working for economic systems that improve livelihoods, strengthen resilience, and ensure just transitions to sustainability, examining how public finance, trade rules, and economic incentives affect people and planet, with focus areas including plastics, subsidies, economic drivers of pollution, reframing economic models, and trade and environmental sustainability.
• Plastic Money Report Series Multi-phase research initiative by QUNO and Eunomia Research & Consulting examining plastic subsidies in international frameworks, including stocktakes, briefing notes for INC negotiations, and analysis of subsidy reform, intended for use in UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee processes on plastic pollution.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFWCC is the parent Quaker organization that QUNO represents at the UN. QUNO staff speak on behalf of FWCC at UN forums and implement joint projects including publications and statements.
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSC is a Quaker organization that works on peace, social justice, and humanitarian issues. QUNO NY supported AFSC's exhibit on Palestine statistics, and they collaborate on Israel-Palestine advocacy.
• Human Rights WatchmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with QUNO and other organizations to deliver joint statements on anti-personnel mines at the UN.
• International Campaign to Ban LandminesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with QUNO and other NGOs on joint statement welcoming UN report on anti-personnel mines.
• Norwegian People's AidmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint statement partner with QUNO on landmine issues at the UN.
• Women's International League for Peace and FreedommajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint statement partner with QUNO on landmine issues at the UN.
• Eunomia Research & ConsultingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on multiple phases of 'Plastic Money' research examining plastic subsidies in the INC process. Conducted stocktake of plastic subsidies in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and related international frameworks.
• Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO co-facilitates the Civil Society-UN Prevention Platform with GPPAC. They jointly submit recommendations to the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review and publish reports on peacebuilding.
• Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children of Incarcerated ParentsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO is co-convenor of this working group, which produces joint publications on children affected by parental incarceration, including COVID-19 briefing papers.
• Penal Reform InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with QUNO and Child Rights Connect on COVID-19 briefing paper regarding rights of children of incarcerated parents.
• Friedrich-Ebert-StiftungmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished joint report on economic, social and cultural rights and sustaining peace with QUNO and Lancaster University.
• Lancaster UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with QUNO and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung on joint publication exploring economic, social and cultural rights and sustaining peace.
• NGO Working Group on Israel PalestinemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO NY co-hosted exhibit with AFSC and this NGO working group on defying fragmentation and erasure in Palestine.
• Connection e.V.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in webinar series on conscientious objection to military service along with IFOR and War Resisters International.
• International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in webinar series on conscientious objection to military service along with Connection e.V. and War Resisters International.
• War Resisters International (WRI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in webinar series on conscientious objection to military service along with IFOR and Connection e.V.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO made joint submission with IUCN to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Subsidies.
• World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO contributed to finalization of WWF report on mainstreaming informal waste sector towards inclusive circular economy in African cities.
• Geneva Peacebuilding PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO is a founding member and supported consultations on the New Agenda for Peace with stakeholders in Geneva.
• UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUNO partnered with PBSO on virtual discussions on COVID-19 impacts on peacebuilding and the Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative.
• Dag Hammarskjöld FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted events with QUNO NY and GPPAC on pathways for peace and more effective international architecture for prevention.
• International Peace InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished joint report with QUNO on the Peacebuilding Commission's purpose, work, and opportunity.
• Amnesty InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubmitted joint amicus brief to European Court of Human Rights on Vahan Bayatyan vs Armenia regarding conscientious objection.
• Conscience and Peace Tax InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint amicus brief co-author with FWCC and Amnesty International to European Court of Human Rights.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Geneva Peacebuilding Platform: QUNO is a founding member and supports Geneva-based UN prevention consultations. Same Geneva ecosystem, same peacebuilding constituency and convening function.
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC): AFSC is a fellow Quaker organization collaborating with QUNO on peace, social justice, and Israel-Palestine advocacy, including co-hosted exhibits at QUNO NY. Shares Quaker identity and overlapping peace/human-rights agenda.
• International Peace Institute (IPI): IPI is a New York-based think tank working on UN peace and security issues, with whom QUNO published a joint report on the Peacebuilding Commission's purpose. Comparable UN-focused policy output and target audience.
• Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC): GPPAC co-facilitates the Civil Society-UN Prevention Platform with QUNO and jointly submits recommendations to the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review. Highly comparable civil-society peacebuilding intermediary at the UN.
• Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC): FWCC is the parent Quaker organization that QUNO represents at the UN; staff speak on behalf of FWCC at UN forums and implement joint projects. Direct kinship on mission, governance, and Quaker values.
• International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL): ICBL collaborated with QUNO on joint statements welcoming UN reports on anti-personnel mines. Smaller, focused arms-control advocacy NGO operating in the same UN ecosystem.
• Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF): WILPF partners with QUNO on joint statements at the UN on landmines and disarmament. Comparable women-led peace NGO with permanent Geneva presence and UN advocacy model.
• Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation: Co-hosted events with QUNO NY and GPPAC on pathways for peace and more effective international architecture for prevention. A foundation engaging the UN on prevention with overlapping mandate and convening style.

Broad incumbents

• Human Rights Watch (HRW): HRW partnered with QUNO on the joint UN statement on anti-personnel mines. Larger, broader human-rights NGO with overlap on arms-control and UN advocacy topics but wider scope.
• Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Geneva: FES published a joint report with QUNO on economic, social and cultural rights and sustaining peace. Larger political foundation with comparable Geneva UN office and multi-issue policy work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/QuakerUNOffice
• Facebookfacebook.com/quakerunoffice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quakerunoffice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Quaker United Nations Office