Journal Letter - QUNO Geneva - November 2009

Tom Richardson - QUNO, Geneva

Dear Friends,

I love autumn at the best of times but autumn in Switzerland is truly stunning; the air is crisp; the skies are clear; the peaks are capped by snow; and the trees begin to shed their summer greenery in a flurry of red, orange and gold. For my birthday I went for a weekend long trek in the valley at the foot of the Matterhorn (the mountain on Toblerone boxes). Not only did this offer alpine vista in their autumnal glory but it also coincided with the moving of the cattle herds from the top slopes to the lower pastures. For those in the Swiss Valais this is an important event on the calendar; the cows are herded with a marching drum and pipes accompaniment, and then the finest are entered into a beauty contest. Yes, you heard me right, cows bedecked with fruit and vegetable headdresses are paraded around the village before being judged on their good looks. I cannot say I am an expert on what merits the title Cow of the Year, but ‘Pepsi’ appeared to be a fine bovine specimen.

To begin with working for the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) was quite daunting; in my first week I was flung into various meetings, learning new acronyms, terminology, names and faces. At times, it feels like living in Geneva requires you to learn a whole new language (thankfully my French is passable if clumsy). In my second week I was given the privilege of representing QUNO at the World Health Organisation’s ‘Fourth Milestones of a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention’. As I floundered in my attempts to rub shoulders with the high and mighty it quickly became apparent that networking is a highly skilled art form. However, this did give me the opportunity to hone my ability to summarise Quakerism and QUNO into thirty second sound bites, not an easy feat.

Although I have been working in QUNO for 3 months, I still have to remind myself that this is a place of work. Quaker House, Geneva, is an elegant Swiss town house that must have been built in the 1930’s, before Geneva succumbed to the whims of planners with a serious penchant for concrete cubes. Quaker House has a character all of its own; the furniture and original features give it the aged wisdom of a library; however, the creaking hardwood floors and staircase act as a reminder of how a functioning family home would have a hubbub of energy and activity. I feel that QUNO owes much to this unique combination and like to think it also reflects the relationship between the permanent staff and the programme assistants. Seeing the number of people that seek out the permanent Representatives for their advice really underlines how widely they are respected as individuals, and the value that QUNO as an institution brings to Geneva. Despite my best attempts to find a quiet method of tip-toeing up the stairs I still sound like a herd of marauding elephants.

My first real challenge was at the end of September when QUNO hosted a civil society workshop that offered an opportunity for members of the non-governmental community to engage with a recent report by the UN Secretary General on the cyclical relationship between armed violence and development. Personally, I had little to do with the content of the workshop and was tasked with co-ordinating the travel, accommodation and sustenance for 25 individuals from far flung corners of the globe. In the planning stages it initially appeared to be a terrifying prospect but as the days passed and the date drew closer I felt increasingly confident. Though I never envisioned this whilst slaving away in various restaurants, working in the catering industry served me well during the event; knowing what to do and how to do it gave me a sense of purpose and confidence. Since then I have strengthened my understanding of the work the Disarmament and Peace Programme conducts, and I feel more able to become actively involved in the content of QUNO’s work. Recently when reading a draft report of a meeting of the Geneva Declaration - the international level process concerned with armed violence and development – the penny dropped and I realised it was the first time since arriving that I could engage analytically with a document.

Quaker House itself is not merely an office, but also the local Quaker Meeting House. I apologise if that is blindingly obvious. I must also admit that as far as Quakerism goes I’m a bit of a novice, and very much of the category ‘persons in close sympathy with the Religious Society of Friends’, as opposed to a self-described Friend. Since arriving in Geneva I have attended Meeting and social events hosted both at Quaker House and the houses of Friends. At both I have been impressed by the warmth, generosity and sense of community that Friends project. Readers will also be glad to know that in Geneva Quakers maintain their reputation as an eclectic collection of unique and colourful individuals, which I mean as a sincere compliment. Through Quaker events I have been introduced to a lady locally known as ‘Ben’, perhaps one of the most remarkable individuals I have ever come across. Ben kindly held the final Quaker open house event of 2009, an energetic host she simultaneously held court and produced a veritable feast. In addition, Ben’s home itself was fascinating, containing a small library of travel guides (several penned by her own hand) and various antiquities from across the world. Ben revealed to me that she believed her morning ritual of rowing on Lake Geneva was the source of her abundant energy. Before I forget, Ben is in her eighties. I am always inspired by those who have reached this age but do not allow it to become a barrier to living or interacting with those outside their generation.

Working at QUNO gives a young and inexperienced person such as myself unparalleled access to the United Nations, and I am able (and encouraged) to sit in on various multi-lateral disarmament processes. Recently whilst observing a session of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons I watched an exchange between the Canadian and Pakistani representatives on the exact wording of a single line of text. Such an example may at first appear to represent an often repeated criticism that the UN works very slowly; however, underneath this the interaction belied two very different approaches to foreign policy. One of QUNO’s key roles in Geneva is to act as a catalyst to ongoing processes, notably aiding the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Geneva Forum (an effort to ameliorate disarmament processes). For the former I am often given the responsibility of writing up reports on smaller lunch time seminars that aim to engage with topical questions, such as how to encourage armed non-state actors to join peace processes. As part of its work with the Geneva Forum, QUNO recently held a lunch to plan a series of lectures on disarmament in response to a request from several diplomats for help in understanding the subject. QUNO hopes that these lectures will help to address the disparity of academic knowledge between states engaged in multi-lateral disarmament negotiations. Failing that it sounds like my carrot and coriander soup is now the talk of the town!

Working for QUNO is an absolute pleasure, and the first time I have cared in equal measures about my colleagues and the work that I am a part of, I eagerly await my next opportunity to update Friends on my (mis)adventures as a QUNO programme assistant.

In Friendship,
Tom Richardson
November 2009