IPHRD-Africa attended the Validation Workshop of Guidelines for Mediation and Mediators on 16th April 2018. The workshop attended by 20 participants was organised by the Ministry of Interior-National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management and Jamii Thabiti. The workshop was a follow up on the development of National Guidelines and Criteria for Mediators and Mediation anchored on the Sessional Paper No. 5 of 2014; and UWIANO Reflection forum on 15th February 2018 on whether there was need for a structured dialogue/mediation process in the country moving forward from the 2017 elections.
The guidelines for mediation and mediators outlined the following: national and international legal frameworks onmediation processes, definition of terms used in mediation processes, types of conflict that can be mediated under the guidelines, steps in mediation, preparing for mediation, appointment of mediators, roles of a mediator, qualities of a mediator, consent/voluntary participation, impartiality/omni-partiality, conflict of interest, confidentiality, integrity, accreditation and recognition, termination, withdrawal of a mediator, peace agreement, coherence, coordination and complementarity of mediation efforts, as well as documentation of the processes and experiences of the mediator.
The guidelines will be utilised to guide dialogue, negotiation and mediation processes at National and County level. This will ensure that efforts towards dialogue, mediation and healing are undertaken in a structured and coordinated manner and avoid confusion amongst actors.
The outcome of the workshop was the revision and validation of the guidelines to include the comments of mediators, practitioners and experts working on conflict resolution after which the guidelines will be officially launched.