Mediation Expertise

HD’s Mediation Support and Policy (MESU) team is dedicated to providing effective mediation support and advice on strategy, evaluation, learning to HD’s worldwide mediation engagement. The MESU team also ensures HD shares its expertise and experience with other mediators and organisations working in international peacemaking.

HD believes that opportunities to reflect critically with and learn from peers with experience and expertise, will strengthen any initiative to prevent, mitigate or resolve conflict.

Providing support and strengthening mediation practice

MESU’s mission is to ensure HD’s effectiveness, and the team does so by strengthening HD’s reflective processes, and reinforcing the organization’s cohesion and connectedness. The MESU team enables HD projects and senior management to think strategically, track and evaluate progress, design and adapt programming, and learn from each other along the way.

MESU has developed an innovative approach to Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) in peacemaking, which linked with a peer-to-peer learning approach across HD operations generates valuable insights. HD shares these insights with the wider mediation community via practitioner-oriented publications, via participation in various professional networks, and via HD’s flagship policy event, the Oslo Forum co-hosted with Norway.

HD believes that in order to be sustainable, peace processes need to be inclusive. Coordinated by MESU, HD’s three Inclusion Advisors strengthen the organisation’s approach to inclusion by supporting both HD teams and civil society actors as they build frameworks for broadening participation in peace processes.

Beyond in-house advice and knowledge-sharing, the MESU team provides advice and expertise to other individuals, institutions and organisations involved in mediating armed conflicts. This includes contributing to the EU’s Mediation Support project ERMES, as well as collaborative relationships with the UN, regional organizations, Governments and other peacemaking networks and actors. For example, the team has provided extensive support to national dialogue efforts in Yemen and Libya, and has developed a mediation handbook series for the African Union.

Fields of activities
Mediation and dialogue
Mediation and dialogue are the most effective, and cheapest, tools for preventing and resolving armed conflicts. They are the core business of HD, a globally connected private diplomacy organisation that operates discreetly to help conflict parties settle their differences.
Mediation Expertise
Providing effective support to mediators can increase the chances of successfully preventing, mitigating and resolving conflicts and of sustaining peace after an agreement is signed. HD offers this support by giving mediators access to the latest conflict resolution expertise and experience.
Oslo Forum
The Oslo Forum is the leading international network of conflict mediation practitioners. Co-hosted by the Norwegian Government and HD, the Oslo Forum convenes conflict mediators, peacemakers, high-level decision-makers and key peace process actors in a series of informal and discreet retreats.
Humanitarian Mediation
As part of its conflict mediation and dialogue activities, and where political dialogue may be difficult or impossible, HD undertakes mediation on a humanitarian basis. Humanitarian mediation enables the parties in conflict to address key issues, such as safe access and protection of civilians, the special needs of women and children, displaced populations and any affected minority groups.