Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership From Talk To Action

The Summit took place 2 - 4 December 2011, but that's not the end of it...

Presentations, working documents, outcomes and photos will be put online soon!

We would like to thank all the delegates, speakers, collaborators, action group and cross-cutting themes leaders and participants and everyone who has helped to make this Summit a success! We appreciate your active participation in collaboratively progressing mediation and other conflict transformation and peacebuilding processes in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

Thank you!

The 'FTTA'Summit Coordination Committee

Note: The group photo shows a selection of delegates and collaborators, given that quite some people needed to leave early on Sunday due to flight connections. A separate page with photos of all the events over the 3 days will be put online in due time.

'FROM TALK TO ACTION’ -

PROGRESSING BEYOND THE TYPICAL CONFERENCE

TOWARDS STRATEGIC ACTION COLLABORATIONS

TO ADVANCE MEDIATION, CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION AND PEACEBUILDING PROCESSES

IN ASIA PACIFIC

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the website of the Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit: ‘From Talk to Action’, that took place in Bangkok between 2,  3 and 4 of December 2011.  The Summit has been collaboratively designed and hosted by the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum (APMF), Chulalongkorn University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, The Rotary Peace Centre, the University of New South Wales - Faculty of Law, King Prajadhipok Institute for Peace and Democracy (KPI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in conjunction with cross-cutting regional to international collaborators including UN Women, Meta Culture, Swisspeace, the International Ombudsman Association etc.. 

The aim, objectives, activities, speakers and the agenda of the Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit: ‘From Talk to Action’ can be navigated to through the menu on the left.

The presentations, outcomes and action plans resulting from the Summit will be made available online soon!

Sincerely,

The ‘FTTA’ Summit Coordination Committee

Keynote speakers:

His Excellency Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol, the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Kingdom of Thailand, and

Her Excellency Sirpa Mäenpää, the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to the Kingdom of Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

Finland and Turkey are leading a new 'peace mediation / arbitration initiative' - aiming to innovate mediation culture, to increase support for mediation and to strengthen cooperation and coordination between different mediators - by the establishment of a group called “The Friends of Mediation group”.

At the initiative of Finland and Turkey, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a Resolution on mediation in June 2011, the first of its kind in UN history. Mediation is one of the most important priorities of both countries' UN policy.

Both the Finnish Foreign Minister Tuomioja and Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu received strong support for promoting mediation at the last UN General Assembly.

The Friends of Mediation group was established in September 2010 to enhance the cooperation of countries active in mediation with international organisations. The topic attracts widespread international attention because Qatar, the chair of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly, raised mediation as the main theme of the Opening Week and as one of the priorities of the entire General Assembly session.

“Future efforts should focus especially on better utilisation of the know-how and experiences of civil society and regional organisations and on increasing the role of women mediators and women’s participation in peace processes.”

His Excellency Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol, the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Kingdom of Thailand, and Her Excellency Sirpa Mäenpää, the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to the Kingdom of Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, will talk about the efforts made by the Friends of Mediation group, the importance of this initiative and the importance of peace mediation.

Field trip to Rayong
Thursday, the 1st of December 2011
“Solving local issues through dialogue: the case of Rayong, Thailand”
By The King Prajadhipok’s Institute

In Rayong province, a conflict between villagers and factory owners broke out a few years ago because of the social, environmental and health impact of industrial activities in the area. The King Prajadhipok’s Institute led a mediation process in the area involving all stakeholders including representatives of the industry, the local community and the State. An agreement was reached and a protection strip was built between industrial and residential zones.

The field trip to Rayong will offer participants of the Asia-Pacific Mediation Summit a unique opportunity of meeting the various stakeholders, listening to their opinions as well as getting a first-hand experience of a typical community/environmental conflict solved through dialogue / deliberation.

International Ombudsman Association 1-day Specialized Course -

Tsunamis at the Water Fountain: Navigating Workplace Disputes

pre-Summit course 1st  December 2011

This one-day specialized course, being held at the Summit venue, will explore the nature of work in the 21st century and the dynamics of workplace interaction. Given that the average individual spends most of his waking hours at work, disputes in the work place can be intense, seemingly all consuming and can have consequences for the health of individuals, teams and organizations.

Mediators and CR practitioners who wish to address work place disputes need not just specific skills of intervention, but also a very complex appreciation of the world of work and the specific stresses and strains it imposes on all of us who are part of it.

Part of that understanding should also be of mechanisms organizations use to address workplace conflict. This workshop will introduce the participants to the effective use of the organizational ombudsman in helping organizations address workplace conflict through an independent, confidential, impartial and informal channel.

This workshop is being offered and hosted by the International Ombudsman Association (IOA). The IOA is pleased to work with Meta-Culture of Bangalore, India in delivering this workshop. Mr. Ashok Panikkar, Executive Director of Meta-Culture and Ms. Indumati Sen, Ombudsman for the International Baccalaureate will be co-presenters. The bios of both co-presenters can be downloaded through the following link. 

The pre-Summit International Ombudsman Association course agenda can be downloaded by clicking on the button to the right!

New information on the "Disaster Mediation" and "Environment and Climate Change Mediation" themes!

(Licensing, photo 1: CC BY SA 2.0 by Naphiri, photo 2: CC BY NC SA 2.0 by Thunderstar, photo 3: CC BY 2.0 by Fox News Insider, photo 4: CC BY NC SA 2.0 by AV8PIX)

The information on the Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit themes / action groups on "Disaster Mediation" and "Environment and Climate Change Mediation" has been updated and can be found through the following links:

Click here for more information on the disaster theme.

Click here for more information on the environment and climate change theme.

Also the overview of links and useful resources has been updated for these two themes. More information can be found under the "links and resources" option in the menu, or click here to go to the links and resources on disaster mediation and environment and climate change mediation.

UN Women official supporter of the Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit!

The Summit Coordination Committee is pleased to announce the support of UN Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women will provide technical inputs in the Summit, in particular the Action Group on Women and Mediation.

UN Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the United Nations system’s work in advancing gender equality.

Siam Sinfonietta performing at the Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit!

The Summit Coordination Committee is proud to collaborate with the Siam Sinfonietta under the passionate and unwearying leadership of the artistic director of the Bangkok opera, Maestro Somtow Sucharitkul. The Siam Sinfonietta is a symbol of inclusion and focusses on cultural exchange between youth through their shared passion and serious desire for the musical arts. The Sinfonietta is intended to be a complete educational and life experience on par with equivalent ensembles in Europe.

"A symphony orchestra and also a sinfonietta are good metaphors for the bringing of disparate entities into harmony.  In Greek, "symphony" means TOGETHER - VOICE.  That is, of course, the exact heart of what mediation is about. A symphony is much more than the sum of its parts, but every part has to work in harmony.  I think we can clearly present this message.  Starting from this I'll devise a program that thematically relates to the idea of humanity's quest for harmony."

- Maestro Somtow Sucharitkul

Collaborator / Delegate of the Month November

Ms. Roxana Cristescu, Project Manager and Mediation Advisor Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)

Ms. Roxana Cristescu is the Project Manager and Mediation advisor for the Black Sea and Central Asia Programme of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI). CMI is an independent, non-profit organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari. The organisation contributes to conflict resolution through mediation, facilitating confidence-building dialogue and strengthening local capacities to implement peace.

Her current portfolio includes (1) provide process expertise for activities designed to build the mediation capacity of the African Union,  the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; (2) facilitation, mediation and capacity building for parties in mediation; (3) design, planning and management of mediation and dialogue projects . Her work has covered country-specific settings in Europe (Kosovo, Georgia, Ukraine, Rep. of Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia), Africa (Ethiopia), Asia (Indonesia) and Middle East (Lebanon). Besides her mediation and facilitation practice, Roxana Cristescu specialises in institutionalisation of mediation practice in organizations. 

Before joining CMI, Roxana was involved in a series of peacebuilding and mediation projects in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kosovo (Mitrovica Region), Moldova, Transdniestria, Ukraine and Lebanon.

Her work in the field was completed with academic research dealing with “Implementing Peace Education and Dialogue projects in conflict divided societies” and with “Evaluating peace projects. Guide-lines for civil-military cooperation in Peace Support Operations”

Roxana Cristescu holds a BA in Political Sciences from University of Bucharest. In addition she holds two master degrees from Florence and Rome University in Mediation and Security Studies. Currently she has enrolled for a Master of Science in Work Based learning - Mediation studies at the Queens University in Belfast.

To learn more about the work of the Crisis Management Initiative, click here!

An overview of previous 'Collaborators / Delegates of the Month' can be found on our collaborators and delegates profile page.