Mediation and Mediation support

Mediation support refers to activities that assist and improve mediation practices. In the OSCE, this entails process advice and capacity-building for OSCE actors involved in mediation processes and facilitated dialogues.

Mediation is one of the most effective means to prevent, manage and resolve conflict, both in terms of cost and results. The increasing complexity of contemporary conflicts requires the provision of comprehensive support to mediators and their teams, and to mediation processes.

In the OSCE context, negotiation and mediation for the peaceful settlement of conflicts is firmly rooted in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. With Ministerial Council Decision No. 3/11, OSCE participating States agreed to “maximize the continuity, consistency and effectiveness of OSCE engagement in conflict mediation and to strengthen the role of OSCE mediators.” To that end, the Mediation Support Team was established within the Conflict Prevention Centre and serves as the OSCE-wide focal point for dialogue facilitation, mediation, and mediation support.

The Mediation Support Team’s main activities include:

• facilitating the development of mediation strategies;
• providing thematic briefings and skills coaching for high-level OSCE mediators, such as Special Representatives of the Chairperson-in-Office and heads of OSCE field operations;
• providing platforms for exchange among mediators;
• debriefing OSCE mediators to record lessons learnt and good practices;
• providing operational guidance on mediation-related topics;
• training OSCE staff in mediation and dialogue facilitation skills;
• facilitating expert deployments in support of mediation processes.