Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), previously known as the Friends Service Council, and then as Quaker Peace and Service, is one of the central committees of Britain Yearly Meeting of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

– the national organisation of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. It works to promote British Quakers' testimonies of equality, justice,

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

simplicity Simplicity is the state or quality of being wikt:simple, simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or Complexity, complex ...

and

truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

. It works alongside both small local and large international

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

s. In 1947, the then ''Friends Service Council'' received the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

jointly with the American Friends Service Committee, on behalf of the Quakers.

UK Peace Work

''Peace Campaigning and Networking'': aims to encourage a wider and deeper understanding of the peace testimony and to promote

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

and work against

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

. ''Turning The Tide'': promotes positive social change and helps groups to increase their effectiveness using active nonviolence. ''Peace Education'': supports a range of initiatives for peace education in schools through advising and supporting teachers involved in conflict resolution and peer mediation programmes.

Social Witness

''Economic Issues'': works with grassroots organisations to bring change to UK government, IMF and World Bank policies. QPSW also aims to influence the environmental and social policies of UK based transnational companies. ''Crime & Community Justice'': works to promote the concept of restorative justice, responds to government papers and oversees the "Circles" Scheme. ''Circles of Support & Accountability'': works with groups of trained volunteers and recently released sex offenders. It aims to reduce re-offending and enable the ex-offender to integrate into society in a healthy way. In 2007–08, the initiative has been passed t
Circles.uk
and while Quakers may continue to be involved as volunteers, the organisation has shifted into a new phase as an emerging national network of volunteers of all faiths and none. ''Quaker Prison Ministers'': work within multi-faith prison chaplaincy teams to offer spiritual support and friendship to prisoners of all faiths and none. ''Quaker Housing Trust'': is Britain Yearly Meeting's own housing charity. QHT helps local Quaker-supported social housing projects through advice, loans and grants. ''Parliamentary Liaison'': seeks to express the values of the Society of Friends in the context of current political discussion. ''The Friends Educational Foundation'': is a group of charitable funds, which QPSW administers on behalf of Meeting for Sufferings.

Global work

''Uganda'': the role of QPSW in Uganda is to support, train and offer consultancy to groups and organisations working on peacemaking and peacebuilding. ''Post Yugoslav countries'': working on the background facilitation of real truth and reconciliation and dealing with the past, QPSW has workers in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. ''Middle East'': QPSW manages the UK/Ireland Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, sending human rights observers to accompany peace activists in their nonviolent actions. ''Quaker United Nations Office'': QUNO in Geneva concentrates on three areas; Disarmament and Peace, Human Rights and Refugees and Global Economic Issues. QUNO works in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to consult with the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

on behalf of the Friends World Committee for Consultation. ''South Asia'': QPSW works to strengthen the nonviolence movement in the Indian sub-continent by helping to link peace and social change organisations. QPSW and AFSC received the

in 1947, as representatives of the Quakers.

History

The roots of QPSW are in the missionary work done under the name of ''Friends' Foreign Mission Association'' (1868–1927). With the decline of the missions, the ''Mission Association'' merged with the ''Council for International Service'' (1919–1927) to form the ''Friends Service Council'' (1927–1978). Which was renamed ''Quaker Peace and Service'' (1979–2000), known as ''Quaker Peace & Social Witness'' since 2001.

References

External links