What we do

The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) works to bring a vision based on the Quaker commitment to peace, justice and equality to Europe and its institutions. We seek to build support for humane, non-military policies at the EU level, both inside and outside its borders. We do so in the spirit of peaceful cooperation which forms the foundation of European politics. We have been based in Brussels’ European Quarter since our foundation in 1979.

We currently operate two programmes focused on peace and human rights. Our peace programme works to promote nonviolent conflict resolution based on the concept of “shared security,” with a view to challenging the idea that international security can only be guaranteed by military means. Our human rights programme seeks to advance a more humane approach to migration and asylum in Europe, and focuses on less visible migration policy areas such as child immigration detention.

Our work involves three general strands, which feed into eachother and drive our efforts forward:

  • – policy research to identify challenges and collect evidence in favour of workable, value-led solutions;
  • – advocacy to make the case for more peaceful and humane approaches among policymakers;
  • – “quiet diplomacy”, which involves bringing a range of stakeholders together for discreet discussions on ways forward.

In addition, we also seek to enable Quakers and those in sympathy with our values to engage themselves in the political process at European level. To achieve this:

  • – We arrange our own seminars, conferences and a Study Tour to learn more about what is happening in Europe. We can assist other groups in arranging study visits on request.
  • – We accept invitations to attend other Quaker events, with two aims: to speak and facilitate workshops on our own work, and to hear the views of Quakers about European political developments.

 

Our partners

We cooperate with other non-governmental and faith organisations which share some of our ideals, so that we can help each other in our efforts to bring about change. Our main partner networks are: