WMF ZZZZZ World Mediation Forum

Forum Mundial de Mediacion - World Mediation Forum - Forum Mondial de Mediation

Messages of Invitation

Message from the President of the Executive Committee of the IV Conference of the World Mediation Forum
Dear Colleagues,

We would like to transmit you the idea that this Conference will be a unique occasion of exchange and learning, intellectual and practically, since we will gather mediators, negotiators and arbiters from the five continents.

We will count with a wide participation of the traditional attendance of our Conferences: USA, Canada and the rest of America, as well as Western Europe.

Citizens from Rwanda, Nigeria, Belorussia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine, Bhutan, China as well as from the Pacific Asiatic: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, East Timor, India, Indonesia and others have already announced their participation.

The huge growth, in the last years, of the mediation practice and mediators training in all the provinces of Argentina and in border countries: Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay, as well as Colombia and Peru, has made the World Mediation Forum consider Buenos Aires as the venue for this event and we are able to anticipate a numerous attendance.

At the same time, the decided support of the Colleges and Professional Associations, the Court of Justice, Universities, governmental entities, the local mediator associations, the auspices of the Government of the City and the Declaration of National Interest, as well as the support of the mediator organisations from different parts of the world, show the necessary commitment to carry out a successful Conference. We count Nancy Peace among the main speakers, coming president of the Association for Conflict Resolution (A.C.R. – USA), and Peace Nobel prizes have been invited, among other personalities.

These reasons seem to be enough to wish to participate, nevertheless some colleagues have approached us their concerns about the current conditions in Argentina and they ask us: Is Buenos Aires safe?
You already know the circumstances we lived here in December, 2001, and the effects of 11^th September in the world. Not few congresses have been called or put off. Thus, after a careful analysis with the Steering Committee of the WMF, we have considered the convenience of postponing the Conference six months to the current date, for just one reason: that you could reach the conviction that visiting Argentina keeps being of a great attraction.

Despite the economic difficulty, our daily life goes on regularly and our city keeps being a safe one. Many International congresses are perfectly carried out and the participants enjoy the city and also the tourism along the interior of our wide country.

The students go to their Universities and schools, public transport works day and night, we go on holidays to the mountain and the sea, there is a huge quantity of crowded bars and restaurants opened until very late at night. There are many ‘milongas’ (tango meetings) until 3 o’clock in the morning. (We would like to invite you there to get to know a unique experience. Do you know that there will be free tango classes in the Conference at midday?) There is a big variety of musicals, plays, films, conferences, concerts and opera every day.

You can walk in the street and feel tranquil: it has not been heard that any tourist has been bothered and the city is full of them. It is more than you can say about a good part of the main cities in the world. All suffer diverse expressions of disturbance, conflict and even violence: Buenos Aires is not one of the most exposed.

You can come and enjoy our traditional hospitality in Buenos Aires City, in the lakes and the Andes mountains, the glaciers of the South, the Iguazú Falls and the woods or the North of the Quebrada de Humahuaca of Inca tradition. You can count on a good communication net, frequent flights and modern airports, high quality hotels and of all prices, excellent food of huge diversity (besides our well-known meat). Besides, we can add that Argentina is now three or four times cheaper than other European or American cities, and that is also an attraction.

Anyway, the most important thing is that the Conference aims to contribute towards ‘Building Peaceful Co-existence’ and we invite you to work together.

In May the fall sun is bright, the air is fresh and the cloudless sky is light blue.

We look forward to receiving you.

Juan Tausk

Conference Convenor

Message from the Acting President of the World Mediation Forum,

Ms Dale Bagshaw

The World Mediation Forum, which was formed in 1995, is now coming of age. To date there have been successful global Congresses in Spain, Cuba and Italy. There have also been many successful regional activities that have kept the WMF spirit alive, including the inaugural Asia Pacific Mediation Forum in November 2002, sponsored by the WMF.

The Fourth Conference of the World Mediation Forum, "Building Peaceful Co-existence. Mediation and Negotiation in a Conflicted World", to be held in Buenos Aries, Argentina from 9-11 May 2003, offers another exciting opportunity for ADR professionals from many different disciplines from around the globe to explore and discuss ways that conflicts can be resolved cooperatively and peacefully through the increased use of mediation in a wide range of settings and contexts. This conference will include participants from many different countries in the world, some which have not been represented before.

The new millennium has been experienced by many as one of escalating conflict and crisis that may be symptomatic of wider political, economic and cultural shifts in the organisation and regulation of social life. Globally there is now more emphasis on ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’, ‘choice’ and ‘individualism’ with positive benefits for some, but with negative ramifications for those countries, groups and individuals who are less fortunate. As more and more cultural, religious and ethnic individuals, groups and communities define, or redefine, their identities and assert their rights we are made increasingly aware of the many ways in which our international and national policies are embedded within cross-cultural relations that involve stereotyping, conflicting values, misunderstandings, and oppression. Mediation has a lot to offer to help build a world within which people can peacefully coexist and collaborate in facing the many changes and challenges that lie ahead.

Unfortunately the WMF President, Dr Savina Pinna, who was appointed in Italy in 2000, has not been well and I wish her a speedy recovery. As the elected Vice President I took over the role of Acting President in mid-2001. The current Steering Committee has worked hard, spending many long hours in discussion on the internet, building on the efforts of prior committees to ensure that the WMF functions smoothly and efficiently for the benefit of its members. Among other things, we have established a new website, reduced the membership fees in order to increase access to membership and we are currently re-examining the Statutes to ring them up to date. I encourage you to join the WMF, or to renew your membership, in order to assist us in our ongoing efforts to consolidate the organization and to plan future regional and global conferences. Your membership fees are deductable from your conference fees. I would also be pleased if you could assist us by advertising this conference widely to others in your networks.

I look forward to reestablishing old relationships in Argentina and to forming new relationships with colleagues with a similar interest in building a peaceful world.

Dale Bagshaw
WMF Acting President

Message from the Chair of the Scientific Committee
Lisa Parkinson
"The message of mediation and ADR needs to be stronger than ever in the 21st

century. The use of mediation to resolve disputes of all kinds is growing

rapidly in many countries and in many different spheres. Mediators across

the world speak a common language - the language of mediation - and we need

direct communication with each other and the stimulus of formal and informal

discussion. We need opportunities to come together to debate our experience

and ideas, to disseminate recent research on mediation and to share our

vision for the future. We can make more significant impact on politicians

and policy-makers in our own country, if we can demonstrate the successful

use of mediation in other countries.

The IVth World Mediation Conference, to be held in Buenos Aires from 8-11

May 2003, promotes the global development of mediation. It will bring

together mediators from different continents, cultures and backgrounds, with

different levels of experience. There will be simultaneous translation in

the plenary sessions and parallel workshops in three languages - English,

French and Spanish. This international conference will provide an exciting

array of speakers and activities - including leading exponents of mediation

and ADR, researchers, workshops and engaging debates.

The Scientific Committee is seeking the widest possible participation and

coverage, so please send in your proposals and encourage others to do so, so

that the IVth WMF Conference becomes an unmissable event, not just in 2003

but this decade ! We are counting on your support.

Lisa Parkinson
Chair, Scientific Committee

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