I would like to take this opportunity and thank the Centre for Mediation and Negotiation (Minsk, Belarus), Liliya Vlasova and the team for the incredible work you are doing in order to train Belorussian mediators to the highest standard.
It has been an honour and my greatest pleasure to work with the Centre for the past 4 years, developing and delivering various training in the field of family mediation, focusing on both, day to day practice, suitability for mediation assessments, working with emotions of the parties etc., and more challenging situations involving high conflict, power imbalances and domestic abuse factors. Each training course has been developed and adapted for Belorussian family mediators, aiming to bring together their needs for high quality, relevant education and the wealth of knowledge and professional experience available in the United Kingdom in the field of family mediation.
This opportunity of learning about different approaches and assimilating experience from different cultures and countries will no doubt enrich each of your trainee’s professional and personal development, provide a fresh perspective and, importantly, well tested ‘tools’ for working effectively as family mediators. It would be a privilege for me to continue our international mediation work, develop new projects together and exchange our experience.
I got acquainted with the Center for Mediation and Negotiation (Minsk, Belarus) and its head Liliya Vlasova in 2014 when the Center organized and provided training of Bill Marsh, international mediator #1 on commercial mediation. The number of participants was limited but thanks to Liliya Vlasova was finally invited to this training and I am grateful a lot for this honor. Since that moment We have Started our Cooperation. By that time the Law on mediation has been already adopted in Belarus and despite just six months’ period of putting law in force Liliya Vlasova with her great team were successfully promoting mediation Services. During these two years have been watching Center’s progress, its challenging projects, which usually have long-term and sustainable effect. There are a lot of high-level trainings of foreign and local mediation and negotiation experts provided within the Center which promotes powerful community of mediators in Belarus and provides Smooth integration of alternative methods into the whole System of dispute and conflict resolution. Thanks to the efforts of Liliya Vladimirovna last year Minsk’s delegation of mediators participated in annual international competition on commercial mediation in Paris. This fact is the evidence of great achievement of Belarus and Center of Mediation and Negotiation in mediation sphere.
Liliya Vlasova is a highly qualified professional: having legal education and vast experience of legal practice she stands at the origins of absolutely new for Belarus alternative methods of conflict resolution. know personally specialists of the Center for Mediation and Negotiation and they are certainly not just qualified and professional, but also goal-oriented, benevolent, open-minded, ready to work with complicated cases Specialists, which are essential traits for profession of mediator.
Center for Mediation and Negotiation makes substantial contribution to the development of mediation in the post-Soviet region. This year Minsk Center for Mediation and Negotiation organized the momentous event in mediation area: this was the International Forum on commercial mediation with participation of representatives from 15 Countries including foreign experts. Forum became a ground for sharing experience and opinions among commercial mediators, representatives of national Ministries of Justice and Supreme Courts as well as for consideration of Complicated issues mediators face in their professional activity, making Forum more practical and interactive. Forum was conducted on a very high level in the context of organizational moments, Forum’s agenda, working in groups and networking.
I wish the Center for Mediation and Negotiation further professional triumph, many-many successful
mediation processes and achievement of the top-level development of mediation in Belarus.