Press release: ACT delivers advanced training on breaking deadlock in community mediation processes

As part of the “Mediation as a Tool for Peacebuilding” project, ACT for Conflict Resolution organised a training session aimed at strengthening participants’ capacities in managing mediation processes, with particular focus on dealing with situations of deadlock and blocked negotiation between parties to a conflict. The activity forms part of the project’s efforts to equip young people and community leaders with the skills and tools needed to strengthen dialogue and community peacebuilding.

The session reviewed the concept of mediation and its basic principles, alongside a discussion of a number of community issues that may pose challenges to the work of mediators. It also focused on the importance of understanding the social and cultural contexts associated with conflicts, so as to strengthen mediators’ ability to manage dialogue effectively and in a balanced way.

The training addressed in practical terms the mechanisms for dealing with situations in which dialogue falters, particularly when the parties reach the point of hardening their positions or breaking off negotiations. A set of tools and skills was presented to help reopen channels of communication and improve the chances of reaching shared solutions.

The session concluded with a practical exercise that gave participants the opportunity to apply the skills they had acquired in a realistic simulation of a community conflict, strengthening their readiness to deal with similar situations in their daily lives. Through these activities, the project contributes to widening the network of local mediators and strengthening their role in supporting social cohesion and peacebuilding. The “Mediation as a Tool for Peacebuilding” project and its activities are implemented with the generous support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.