Guidance for mediation ready at hand – what should a mediator take account of?
The UN Guidance for Effective Mediation is part of the concrete results of the mediation initiative taken by Finland and Turkey. "The actual value of this guidance will be measured in the field," said Foreign Minister Tuomioja, when launching the Finnish translation of the document.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs organised the release event of the Finnish version of the United Nations Guidance for Effective Mediation on 16 April. The event, attended by Finnish Friends of Mediation, was opened by Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja.
Photo: Ministry for Foreign Affairs/Unit for UN and General Global Affairs
Finnish Friends of Mediation, that attended the event on 16 April.
The UN Guidance for Effective Mediation introduces the eight key principles of mediation and offers practical guidance for mediation. The guidance was launched in summer 2012 as an appendix to the UN Secretary-General's mediation report, after the UN General Assembly had adopted the first UN mediation resolution at the initiative of Finland and Turkey in June 2011. The resolution included a request addressed to the UN Secretary-General to draw up guidance for more effective mediation. The UN Guidance for Effective Mediation is part of the concrete results of the mediation initiative taken by Finland and Turkey.
Minister Tuomioja pointed out that those doing mediation work in the field have warmly welcomed the guidance. Mediation professionals have pointed out that guidance and universal standards are needed to make mediation efforts more effective. Tuomioja estimated that the value of the guidance will be measured in the field, and he hoped that the guidance would promote achievement of lasting, high-quality peace agreements.
The second mediation resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in autumn 2012, encourages all actors to take advantage of the guidance in mediation activities and development of mediation capabilities. In the third resolution, currently being negotiated in New York, Finland strives to further strengthen the status of the guidance.
In Finnish: Tehokkaan rauhanvälityksen ohjeistus: Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat, 25.6.2012 (PDF, Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 16 April 2014)
The United Nations Guidance for Effective Mediation (PDF)
(25 June 2012, www.peacemaker.un.org)
Director General Kirsti Kauppi from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who chaired the event, stated that, in addition to the Finnish translation, we can also be proud of the fact that the guidance is based on our initiative and is part of our normative work.
According to Nita Yawanarajah, Head of Mediation at Commonwealth Secretariat, studying of mediation requires time, and adoption of standards and ethics. Yawanarajah told about her work at the UN with Elisabeth Rehn in Bosnia in the 1990s, when there was no guidance for mediation. Now the guidance provides support for mediators, and all matters are no longer so largely dependent on the personalities involved and their personal competencies.
Yawanarajah estimated that we have now learned the tactics of mediation, but what about the strategy? Who should be developing international mediation strategies in Syria or Darfur? Do we need international ownership in addition to the national one? How does one coordinate the international community, and is mediation needed for that purpose as well? How can we reach a situation in which the international community has a common strategic view of how to solve a specific conflict? These are the issues Yawanarajah hoped that Finland would pay attention to.
Tomas Henning, Mediation Adviser at the European External Action Service, explained why the EU engages in mediation in addition to the UN, and outside its own territory. First of all, the EU in itself is an example of conflict resolution, of which the Nobel Prize received by the EU serves as a token. There is demand for experience of integration elsewhere as well. Secondly, the EU is present practically everywhere in the world. The EU seldom engages in high-level mediation, but, for example, the special representatives of the European Union are involved in everyday mediation activities at a more local level every day. Thirdly, the EU is a major donor, but, as a result of the Lisbon Treaty, also an increasingly important political actor.
The commentary address was given by Elisabeth Rehn who is of the opinion that − no matter what is the contribution of the mediators and their teams − the honour for the peace agreement must be bestowed on the parties involved, because national ownership is extremely important after the agreement has been made.