Throughout a trying year when progress at the United Nations (UN) seemed stagnant, Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) remained committed to seeking peace through peaceful means.
This peace-centered approach informs both QUNO’s high-level work engaging international representatives and stakeholders within the UN system and its more focused work of accompaniment. A prime example of the latter is QUNO’s ongoing series of “Peace Game” simulations.
Developed and facilitated in partnership with American Friends Service Committee and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Peace Games are alternatives to war games. In war games, nations carry out simulated military actions as political posturing or preparation for war. In keeping with Quaker values, Peace Games seek instead to foster conversation and collaboration as participants take on the roles of various states, international bodies, and non-governmental organizations to diplomatically solve fictional yet plausible problems.
QUNO and partners have hosted three such simulations on sustainable energy initiatives and resolving conflict on the Korean Peninsula, with plans for more. The Peace Game series has shared discussion techniques and highlighted the importance of diplomacy with a diverse network of UN stakeholders who can then share a peace-centered approach with their colleagues. QUNO will continue to organize Peace Games in hopes that more and more of the UN community will adopt their principles.
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