Mediation: at the junction of technique and art

Today, many international and regional organizations are mandated to prevent conflicts or manage crises. Mediation is an important tool for achieving more secure and safe communities, be they local, regional or global. Because every conflict is unique, every attempt to respond to a conflict also is different. However, there are similarities in the challenges that countries and regions around the world are facing, and ample expertise in conflict prevention and mediation is spread among international and regional organizations.

One can make best use of the expertise by dividing responsibilities between international actors - the UN and its umbrella organizations – and regional, national and local mediators based on their comparative advantages and creating synergies. Co-ordinated efforts are crucial to effective and efficient conflict prevention and resolution.

Challenges faced by mediators at all levels, preventive and quiet diplomacy, facilitation of dialogue, as well as ways forward were discussed at a workshop hosted by the OSCE Secretary General with UN support that took place 6-7 December 2010 in Vienna. The workshop gathered more than 30 senior representatives from the United Nations and key regional organizations and structures.

The Vienna workshop followed the United Nations Secretary-General's retreat with heads of regional organizations held in January 2010 in New York.

In Vienna, the participants shared good practices in mediation and mediation-support capacity-building. They also identified and discussed lessons learned from previous efforts to prevent and settle conflicts and examined the advantages and limitations of quiet diplomacy. They also addressed the specifics of mediation and facilitation at the national and local level, including via field operations.

Participants discussed tasks that can be effectively approached only collectively, such as promoting national and local ownership of conflict resolution process by supporting national mediation capacity building; making a collective case for more resources for preventive diplomacy, including with the engagement of international financial institutions; building political will; ensuring consistency and coherence carried out both within the UN and between international and regional institutions. The participants agreed that it was important to make sure that the process is inclusive, national and local specificities are accommodated, and available international coordination mechanisms and resources are effectively used.  

Workshop participants agreed to continue consultations, networking and sharing of mediation-related experiences at expert and practitioners' levels, as well as to organize joint training courses, and to hold a new workshop in 2011 in Cairo.