About Us

The Quaker International Affairs Programme (QIAP) works to support the peace and justice concerns of Canadian Quakers in the international arena by using Quaker United Nations Office methodology. QIAP's first area of focus was on trade and intellectual property issues. In 2008, QIAP began the transition from from work on intellectual property issues to work on the commons.

QIAP was established in Ottawa in November 2001. QIAP is a programme under the Canadian Friends Service Committee which is the service arm of Canadian Yearly Meeting (the corporate body of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, in Canada). QIAP’s work priorities are based on the concerns of Canadian Quakers and determined, in part, by the agendas of the organizations and participants with which QIAP works.

QIAP’s work is supported by the Canadian Friend Service Committee, Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Monthly Meetings across Canada, the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva, other groups and individuals.

QIAP’s work has also supported by grants from the: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); International Development Research Centre (IDRC); Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS); Peace Research Institute - Dundas (PRI-D); and the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID).

Photo "Field of Sorghum" © Anna Paskal, Inter Pares