Strengthening Practice : Perspectives on mediation

What are the HD Centre's objectives in developing this programme?

Until now, most research into contemporary mediation has taken a top down approach. The experience of mediators and diplomats, while crucial, only tells part of the story. The HD Centre's objective in undertaking this programme is to better understand how mediation works and why it fails. To do so, one also needs to understand the experience of the conflict parties on the receiving end of international peace-making attempts.

Research is being conducted through extensive interviews with representatives of rebel groups, governments and others involved in peace processes. An advisory board of mediation experts will be established to help guide the project as it develops. During the course of the research, lessons will be recorded as working papers and used to support the work of the HD Centre's Mediation Support Unit and, in order to effectively reach its primary audience. Findings will be published in the form of a book to follow Kings of Peace, Pawns of War: the untold story of peacemaking, which explored the varying professional approaches of six international peace mediators.

What steps has the HD Centre already taken to achieve this programme?

Published in 2006, with the support of the HD Centre, the book Kings of Peace, Pawns of War: the untold story of peacemaking draws on interviews with six senior conflict mediators: Lakhdar Brahimi, Alvaro de Soto, Martin Griffiths, Vidar Helgesen, Erik Solheim and Rt. Gen. L.K. Sumbeiywo, and covers their experiences in conflict resolution ranging from Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus, Aceh, Sri Lanka to Sudan.

The book aimeds to explore in a fresh and insightful way the personal experience of these men undertaking the important but often hidden task of trying to achieve sustainable peace out of conflict, through mediation. It also includes a chapter contributed by the HD Centre, which analyses the themes illustrated in the book and the relationship between mediators' practice and conflict resolution theory.

What activities are planned for the programme in going forward?

In the coming year, the HD Centre will:

• Undertake extensive library and Internet research on relevant conflicts and potential interviewees.
• Identify, in consultation with the HD Centre's staff and the board of advisors, relevant peace processes about which both government officials and rebel representatives would be willing to talk.
• Attend the HD Centre's as well as others' workshops and meetings in order to interview participants and learn about current thinking on issues relevant to the research.
• Identify relevant interviewees from both government and rebel sides and arrange to meet with them.
• Travel to specific countries (eg Northern Ireland, Nepal, Indonesia, Sudan) to carry out the interviews.