This meeting, headed by Columbia Law School, served as a workshop to understand the process of mediation in conflict resolution. Mediation involves parties attempting to negotiate to reach an agreement. Mediation was introduced with two case studies, from Nepal and well as Iraq and Syria. In the case of Nepal, Nepali women recieve training to serve as mediators in small towns and focus on issues of inequality. This initiative resulted in the 2010 Mediation Act of Nepal. In the case of Iraqi and Syrian refugee camps, leaders in the refugee camps work to stop clashes over access to water among the camp. After these case studies, attendees of the workshop were put into groups and given a conflict with a goal of creating an alternate dispute resolution.
The conflict involved the fictional country of Hogsmeade with two ethnic groups, the wealthier Slytherins and the Gryffindors, who continue to fight over access to a river as a water source. After working in groups, the meeting came to an end with each group sharing their alternative dispute resolution. Each group resolved the conflict with different factors as priorities and details varied. Overall, the workshop helped stimulate the very difficult process of conflict resolution in the international arena.
Meeting: Conflict Resolution and Ensuring Access to Justice in Developing Nations Workshop
Date/Location: Friday October 26th 2018; 15:00 to 18:00; Conference Room E, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY
Speakers:
H.E Mr.Marco A. Suazo, Head of Office, UNITAR UNO
Ms.Alexandra Carter, Director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School
Mr.Shawn Watts. Associate Director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School
Written by: WIT Representative Mariam Elsaker
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