Quakers in the World

Quakers/Friends have been active behind the scenes at the United Nations from the beginning, and in the League of Nations before that. Each of the two main UN centres - New York and Geneva – has a Quaker House, staffed by a small team. They listen, they contribute, and they facilitate quiet dialogue and solution building, especially with regard to peace, justice and human rights.

Lucretia Mott campaigned vigorously against slavery. She founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, and spoke publicly on many occasions, despite much opposition. She and her husband sheltered many runaway slaves in their home, and boycotted items produced by slave labour. She was also a strong proponent of women's rights, and co-organised the first women's rights convention in the US, in 1848.

The Retreat was founded in 1792 by William Tuke, a Yorkshire Quaker, and opened in 1796. It remains to this day a Quaker organisation. It was the first establishment in England where mental illness was regarded as something from which a person could recover, and patients were treated with sympathy, respect and dignity. its work continues to this day.

Friends Peace House is in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. It was opened in 2000. Its fundamental purpose is to help rebuild Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. It aims to bring together all parts of Rwandan society in everything it does, so they can build peace together.