Call Number:

Phy.773

Repository:

Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

2 linear ft.

Language:

English

Date:

1974-2001 (inclusive)

Creator:

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. United Nations Working Group

Abstract:

The Committee on the United Nations was formed at the beginning of 1974 to “create, among Friends and people within the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting area generally, greater support for the UN and stronger concern for the problems the UN was designed to meet.” It began as a subcommittee of the Peace Committee, but in 1982 was made into a full committee. The committee published a newsletter, made presentations to schools and churches, and sponsored the Model UN Convention for Friends Schools. As an organization with non-governmental status (NGO) to the UN Department of Public Information, representatives from the group were able to provide a great deal of information about UN issues to Philadelphia-area Quakers. Under the reorganization of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1998, the Committee on the United Nations was renamed the United Nations Working Group under the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee.

The Committee on the United Nations began in 1974 as a subcommittee of the Peace Committee. The subcommittee’s main purpose was to create a better understanding of the United Nations within the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and among the general public in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting area. The subcommittee also hoped to encourage the government to increase commitment to the UN. Included among its activities was support for UN boxes, visits to the UN, and correspondence with the press. The subcommittee also published an eight-page monthly newsletter titled “Action Suggestions on UN Issues,” which provided information on current issues the UN faced and how Friends could most effectively lobby to support the UN.

In 1982, in light of the Committee on Program, Services, Staff, and their Financing’s recommendations, the subcommittee became a full committee, titled the Committee on the United Nations. Many of its activities, however, remained the same. Education was its major goal, as members of the committee continued to visit schools and meetings and publish the newsletter. The committee also worked in close conjunction with other groups, including the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and the Peace Committee. In 1991, the Committee processed the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s application for Non-governmental Organization status to the United Nations Public Information Office, which facilitated access to information from the United Nations for the Committee. In 1998, under the reorganization of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the Committee was changed to the United Nations Working Group under the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee.

This collection is organized into 4 series. The first series, Minutes and Reports, contains minutes from 1977 until 2001 (excluding 1984-1992), as well as a report of the Evaluation Committee of the Committee on the United Nations and two reports that list current events from the years 1990 and 1993. Series 2 is Correspondence, and Series 3, the most substantial series of the collection, contains almost all of the issues of “Action Suggestions on Issues Concerning the United Nations” from 1974 until 1994. Series 4 is Miscellaneous. Each series is arranged chronologically.