The Group of Friends of Mediation held its 10th Ministerial Meeting on the margins of the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations on 26 September 2019 under the theme of “New Technologies for Peace and Mediation as Tools for Inclusion: Celebrating the 10th Ministerial Meeting and Looking Ahead”.
The Sixth Istanbul Mediation Conference was convened on 31 October 2019 with the theme of “International Peace Mediation: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead” under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
The Group of Friends of Mediation organized its 11th Ministerial meeting on 2 February 2022 online. The theme of the high-level event was “Mediation as a tool for peaceful settlement and resolution of conflicts: Taking stock after 10 years of the first UN Resolution and looking ahead”.
The 8th İstanbul Mediation Conference was convened on 10 March 2022 with the theme of “Spotlight on Mediation in a Changing Peace Landscape”. The conference was held under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
The annex to the General Assembly resolution 37/10, also known as the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, reaffirms the principles set out in the Charter that all States shall settle their disputes by peaceful means and listed, inter-alia, negotiation, mediation and good offices as means to seek a peaceful settlement.
The present resolution recognizes the increased use of mediation, reflects on current challenges facing the international community in such mediation efforts, and calls on key actors to develop their mediation capacities.
The present General Assembly resolution takes note of the Secretary-General’s report “Strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution” and encourages the use of the United Nations Guidance for Effective Mediation by all relevant actors. Furthermore, the General Assembly decides to continue its consideration of mediation on a biannual basis.
Adopting by consensus a text on the topic, the Assembly encouraged the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations to continue to develop their mediation capacities; use United Nations Guidance for Effective Mediation in their efforts; and increase awareness of the importance of mediation through conferences, seminars and workshops. In that regard, it welcomed the “Mediation in the Mediterranean Initiative”.