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Ed

Tiny Thumbed Tweeter in Chief


Two stories from America to start with this week, Newark (New Jersey not the one in God’s own county of Lincolnshire).

As with other states New Jersey is now funding a programme of mediation for people facing foreclosure (repossession of their home in UK terms). NJ has the highest number of such actions in the US and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka confirmed there were 800 foreclosures per year.

The aim, as with any mediation, is to level the playing field and allow the homeowners what is described as “at least a fighting chance” against multinational banks.

Announcing the $1m fund from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver said “When people who have had their homes foreclosed or they get notification, they are out-flanked at the bargaining table…You will find financial institutions with cadres of attorneys and financial analysts, and our homeowners come to the table without representation."

Under the scheme the papers served on the defaulting home owners must now include where they can get access to the free service (there are at least five such services operating in Essex county).

Church leaders are once again in the forefront of the movement with the fantastically named Reverend Slaughter (St. James AME Church, Newark) acting as spokesperson "The foreclosure (crisis) never left the urban community….It always has resided in the urban community. When the banks got the bailout, the people in the urban community got nothing for it, absolutely nothing. So we are seeing the fallout continue because now it's back in the suburban areas."

The Mayor added “African-Americans communities lost 50 percent of their wealth during that time….We are still recovering from that and trying to keep people in their homes who still have their homes at the same time.”

The aim is to help homeowners restructure and challenge loans to keep them housed, as with all free services there is an underlying benefit to the state as it has an obvious interest in keeping people in their homes and therefore more likely to be able to work and provide income for the country through tax revenue.

Phyllis Salowe-Kaye executive director of NJ Citizen Action (one of the providers of assistance) said “Today, thanks to the leadership of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver and our partners at (NJHMFA), we're able to have another tool in our tool chest”

I can’t resist a mediation story which also mentions the tiny thumbed tweeter in chief so over to Brentwood (again not the one in England) where former campaign manager to Trump (who is still in office as I blog this) looks set to drop his $5m case against his neighbours thanks to mediation. The dispute began when Corey Lewandowski built a six berth garage at his property. Lewandowski is a regular on partisan news network Fox.

There’s a right of way over a dirt track that Lewandowski has been using to get to his garage construction site over the land owned by Glenn and Irene Schwartz.

The Schwatzs are alleged to have blocked the access and harassed him during his construction.

In response the Schwatzs have said Lewandowski has bullied them using his political connections as a threat and abused the right they let him have (bullying and abuse form someone in the Trump campaign whatever next?!?).

As the garage is complete Lewandowski has said he will drop his case but he counterclaim could run to trial in October.

The judge in the case noted that neighbours “need at some point to figure out a way to coexist,” and so it is likely that a resolution will now be achieved by mediation.

On the other side of the world and in a completely different context Qatar has confirmed its commitment to mediation in an effort to resolve conflicts

Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saaed Al-Thani Qatar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador at the security council of the UN Qatar released a statement during a debate on "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Mediation and the Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts", committing itself to facing common challenges with the rest of the UN and trying to resolve matters via mediation and peaceful means even in the face of what it said were unjust restrictions.

There was further firming up of commitment by Qatar for Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attempts to mediate a settlement of the Gulf crisis. She added “mediation has always been an essential part of diplomacy, conflict resolution, negotiation, arbitration” (as per the Charter of the United Nations, in particular chapter VI).

Her excellency discussed the increased use and successes of mediation at all levels of peacemaking and noted the number of providers at national and international levels.

In conjunction with her excellency’s comments a press release comes from the UK government confirming the security council’s unique position in mediations rather than pick and choose the highlights I’ve set it out in full below focusing as it does on mediation’s important role in chapter 6 of the UN’s charter.

"I shall now make a statement in my capacity as Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mr Secretary-General, in January 2017, you gave this Council a challenge. You asked the question: How can we use our powers under Chapter 6 of the UN charter more effectively to prevent conflict? Although Chapter 6 is about more than mediation, it is an important part of the answer.

But the Council is far from the only actor. The complex nature of modern conflict, which the Secretary-General and others have already referred to, means that averting or ending violence requires a concerted approach from a range of actors, both within the family of the United Nations and outside of it.

That includes regional and subregional organizations, civil society, Religious leaders and as we’ve just heard, women’s mediation networks. I’m therefore delighted and pleased that we’ve heard from representatives of these groups today. I would particularly like to thank the Most Reverend Archbishop of Canterbury and Ms Mossarat Qadeem for your very insightful, expert, thoughtful briefings to the Council today. As Mossarat said, in peace making, in conflict resolution, we must speak to the core humanity of people. And to coin a phrase, as the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Archbishop of Canterbury has put it, it is only then we will achieve the people’s peace.

In the United Kingdom, we have seen the importance of mediation first-hand. The division and violence in Northern Ireland took years of sustained negotiations to resolve and finally ended with the signing of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It shows the value of patience and persistent mediation and the 20 years of peace that have followed illustrate clearly why we must give mediation efforts our utmost and full support.

Today, as we look around the world, in Yemen and Libya, Martin Griffiths and Ghassan Salamé are leading efforts to facilitate peaceful resolutions to some of the most complex and long-running conflicts with great human cost. But we should not make the mistake of thinking that mediation only works at a national level. In countries like the Central African Republic and indeed Mali, we have seen the importance of community-level mediation, conducted or facilitated by peacekeeping missions.

In the Central African Republic, MONUSCO has successfully facilitated mediation between armed groups in several areas of the country. For example, the agreement signed in the town of Bouar in December 2017. MONUSCO is also involved in strengthening local capacity to resolve conflicts, building trust between communities and advocating the participation of women and young people.

In Mali, MINUSMA’s mandate recognises the importance of community engagement and indeed of local mediation. It is essential in protecting civilians and stabilizing communities and the country. It has facilitated the training of 703 mediators, including 225 women who have served on community-based mediation panels.

More broadly, the United Nations has made good progress in the last decade to professionalize and strengthen its mediation role with the established establishment of the Mediation Support Unit in 2006, a standby a team of senior mediation advisors in 2008, and a high level advisory board in 2017.

The UN Special Political Missions play a quite unique role in fostering and supporting dialogue and indeed in preventing conflict. If we cast our minds back to last December, Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, as we heard from the Secretary-General, and a member of the High Level advisory Board travelled to Liberia on the Secretary-General’s behalf to support the first peaceful transfer of power in Liberia’s history.

So there is much we can already be proud of in terms of what has been achieved. But equally, on reflecting on what has been achieved, it is equally important to recognize there is so much more to do.

We now need to look forward and towards the next decade and address the changing nature of conflict, the complexity of conflict and the increasing number of mediation actors. The United Kingdom believes the Security Council has a pivotal and important role to play in this respect. We must include mediation in the toolkit that the Council uses to prevent or resolve conflicts. That includes working effectively with mediators from regional and sub-regional organisations and we therefore welcome the United Nations work to strengthen capacity in this particular area. It also means considering conflict resolution and mediation when we mandate peacekeeping and special political missions. We should learn and build on the examples of Mali and the Central African Republic and ensure that mediation support is properly resourced.

Finally but most importantly as we’ve heard already and as set out in the UN Security Council resolution 1325, we must ensure without question the full equal, meaningful participation of women in conflict resolution as leaders, as decision makers and at both national and local level. Women’s participation should not be an option. It is a central and pivotal part of conflict resolution. It is key to ensuring conflict resolution and lasting peace. It is a matter of ensuring respect for human rights, for ensuring gender equality, and as we all know, and we should reflect on this, the evidence points to that.

When you look at the research it also confirms that where women are involved in peacekeeping, it increases the probability of that peace lasting much longer.

We therefore welcome the Secretary-General’s efforts to promote gender parity in the United Nations, but also recognize it is upon all of us - the UN system, Member States, civil society, religious leaders - for us all to do more to promote women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution at all levels, including the appointment of women mediators.

Let me assure you, the United Kingdom is taking its responsibility very seriously and we are therefore committing £1.6 million to the development of the Network of Women Mediators across the Commonwealth that Mossarrat alluded to. And of course, the youth voice must also be included.

What is clear, is the nature of conflict evolves, and as the nature of conflict evolves, mediation will be needed more than ever. The United Nations must stand ready to ensure that it is equal to the task. And let me assure all colleagues, all Member States across the United Nations and beyond that the United Kingdom will remain committed to supporting you, Secretary-General in your efforts, on your focus to both professionalize and enhance the United Nations approach to mediation, with women rightfully playing a full, pivotal and equal part.

Thank you."

Northwest Mediation isn't an international peacekeeping mediator, but we do carry out cross border mediations and can help with any dispute whether it's an employment issue or the sale at an under value of a property, a fight with a neighbour (even if he's a friend of the Donald), family issues, commercial disputes or inheritance arguments contact Northwest Mediation on 07931318347 or via email at ed.johnson@northwestmediation.co.uk

neighbour mediation; commercial dispute resolution; commercial dispute; corporate dispute; commercial mediator; family mediation; inheritance mediation; property mediator;

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