This year has been immensely dark across the world, meaning that our work and the need for an effective UN have never been more urgent. Thank you to all our members, supporters and partners that make our work possible, and champion the values of peace and cooperation.
We've taken a look back over what we have achieved in 2024, offering a snapshot of UNA-UK’s impact, as well as a celebration of the partners and collaborators we’re proud to count amongst our community:
1. Building momentum towards a woman Secretary-General
This year, UNA-UK joined the 1 for 8 Billion Steering Committee and helped relaunch the campaign for a fair and inclusive selection process for the next UN Secretary-General. We supported advocacy efforts that saw key language on the SG selection included in the Pact for the Future and helped produce the campaign’s new policy platform. In September, we were in New York on the sidelines of the Summit of the Future to coordinate the event ‘Madame Secretary-General: 1 Year to Prepare the Ground for a Fair and Inclusive SG Selection’. An all-star panel of women leaders joined us to call for a fair, open, inclusive, and transformative Secretary-General selection process, and attendees included representatives of member states, leaders from civil society and academia.
Momentum is building around the long-awaited need to appoint a woman Secretary-General and we look forward to working with our partners in 2025 to continue to build on this. You can find out more about the campaign here.
2. Working in Parliament
In partnership with UN-APPG Officers, UNA-UK has facilitated a series of APPG events across the year to brief parliamentarians on international issues and UN activities, and to provide a forum for debate and holding the government to account.
We held briefings with Ambassador Woodward, Lord Collins, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, as well as a roundtable with key UN agencies including the WFP, UNHCR, UNFPA, IOM and UNICEF, and have collaborated with other APPGs including the groups on Human Rights and SDGs. We were pleased to reinstate the UN APPG under the new government in October, welcoming a new team of officers. The APPG events have provided a crucial space for parliamentarians to be informed of the challenges facing both the UN and the wider humanitarian landscape.
3. New funding to continue our work on nuclear disarmament
This year UNA-UK has continued to call on the UK government to address harms caused by its nuclear weapons testing, pressuring them to uphold their international commitments, and educating new MPs on the TPNW and our campaign for nuclear disarmament.
We are delighted to have been awarded further funding for our nuclear disarmament work by the Marmot Trust, allowing us to continue challenging the UK’s outlook on nuclear weapons, promoting the TPNW and highlighting the illegitimacy of the UK’s nuclear testing record. We aim to mobilise our relationships with leading international academics, sympathetic parliamentarians and Kiribati survivors to bring this issue to the attention of the new Labour Government.
4. Welcoming a new Chair, Vice-Chair and trustees
In October, UNA-UK appointed Ian Martin to the position of Chair of the UNA-UK Board. With a career of distinguished work in the fields of human rights, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, including in a number of senior UN positions, Ian Martin brings a wealth of expertise and leadership skills to UNA-UK.
We are delighted that Theo Clarke has been appointed as our new Vice-Chair. Among other parliamentary roles, she has been the Chair of the UN SDGs APPG and Chair of the Select Committee for Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). We are also delighted to welcome Andrew Gilmour and Angela Seay as trustees. We look forward to working with these inspiring individuals to help UNA-UK thrive in an operating environment that has changed so drastically in the past few years.
Additionally, three of our trustees, Frances Chambers, Shamima Yasmine and Nimisha Agarwal, are reaching the end of their term in December 2024. We would like to thank them, especially Frances as she stepped up to interim Chair this year; we are hugely grateful for her leadership and support.
5. Hosting events to mark UN Day and celebrate Peacekeeping
In May, together with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and United Nations Association - Westminster Branch, we held our annual Peacekeepers Day Conference. Representatives of over 80 Embassies and High Commissions across London, as well as prominent officials from the Government and Armed Forces, gathered at the Cenotaph to lay wreaths in remembrance of peacekeepers lost in conflict.
In October, we marked the 79th anniversary of the UN Charter in partnership with the World Food Programme. The evening was an opportunity for guests from the diplomatic community, civil society, the media and the UK government to reflect on the importance of the UN, and the challenges the organisation faces in today’s geopolitical climate. We were honoured to present this year’s Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the UN to Sir Charles Petrie, former Senior UN Official and human rights expert.
6. Our network of members and UNA Groups continued to advocate and organise around key international issues
We have a passionate network of members and UNA Groups across the UK who continue to advocate and organise on the big challenges facing the world – amplifying our voices and broadening our reach. Just some examples of the diverse range of activities and events they organised this year were the Climate and Sustainability Youth Sumit 2024 (UNA Climate and Oceans), a study visit to the UN in Vienna (UNA Westminster) and lectures on Paths to Peace in the Middle East (UNA Warwick and District). You can find out more about our UNA Groups here, and join as a member here.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters for their kind donations throughout the year and their continued support for our work.
7. Continuing to sound the alarm for more transparent, inclusive UN senior appointments with the Blue Smoke campaign
As part of the Blue Smoke campaign, we published a series of newsletters shining a light on UN senior appointments. We’re proud this has become essential reading by diplomats, senior UN staff and other stakeholders engaged in the UN system. We were also pleased to support our partners Plataforma CIPÓ develop and publish a ground-breaking report on racial inequality and gender representation in top UN positions.
Blue Smoke's advocacy efforts around the Pact for the Future secured language that asserts the importance of transparency and inclusivity in senior appointments, that no state should seek to influence the recruitment process, and that no UN role should be ringfenced for the nationals of any country. We also coordinated an advocacy letter to the UN Secretary-General with over 60 high-level signatories and wrote a widely read op-ed for Devex.
8. Publishing resources for voters ahead of the UK General Election
The UK general election in July was an opportunity for us to reiterate the UK’s responsibility to be a champion for international cooperation and an effective multilateral system. We produced resources covering key questions to ask candidates about their commitment to international cooperation and the UN amongst other key global issues. Our manifesto comparison resource provided a comprehensive analysis of all the major parties’ positions on a wide range of foreign policy areas, including arms control, human rights, international development, conflict resolution and climate diplomacy.
9. Continuing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to UK weapons sales to Israel
We have continued to call on MPs to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and to urge the UK Government to go beyond the partial suspension introduced by ending all arms sales to Israel. We coordinated a joint letter to the UK government with members and friends of the UK Campaign to Stop Killers Robots, raising the alarm about the use of automated military systems by the IDF in Gaza and providing detailed analysis of the UK’s broader role in supporting Israeli military operations.
We will continue to call for a ceasefire and for the UK to stand up for international law and be a champion of human rights.
10. Campaigning for the prohibition of lethal autonomous weapons
This year we appointed a coordinator for the Stop Killer Robots UK coalition as we continued our work to raise awareness of the issue of lethal autonomous weapons, and advocate for the UK to support an international treaty for the prohibition and regulation of autonomous weapons systems. Since the general election, we have been working to brief new MPs on the issue of AI in weapons technology and the latest international developments. In November, the First Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on autonomous weapons systems for the second year running, and we look forward to continuing our advocacy work on this issue in the new year.
11. Hosting events at the UNA-UK premises
UNA-UK was able to host more events this year in our Whitehall premises, including our UN Day event. Another highlight was co-hosting a breakfast briefing with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) marking the start of Refugee Week, looking at the work of IOM's vital Missing Migrants Project.
Other likeminded organisations based in our office space have also enjoyed using our premises for events – in November the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights held a panel event to launch their latest report ‘Strengthening UK military investigations into civilian harm’. If you would like to use our space in 2025, please get in touch here!
12. Welcoming new members to the UNA team
This year UNA-UK welcomed a new Head of Campaigns, Sophie Radice. Sophie has over 20 years of experience as a campaigner and communicator in human rights organisations, working on issues such as female genital cutting, wrongful convictions, and immigration detention. At UNA-UK her focus is on the UK Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, of which UNA-UK is a coalition member.
UNA-UK also hired two new administration coordinators this year, Samantha Perren and Ruth Blakey. Congratulations to Ruth, who has recently stepped up to the role of Communications & Policy Officer.
