Informal Dispute Resolution
• General Assembly encouraged and
institutionalized the use of informal dispute
resolution through GA Resolutions and
Statute of UN Dispute Tribunal
• In May, UNRWA launched its own
Mediation Programme modeled after the
UN’s
Area & International Staff Rule 111.1
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A staff member who considers that his or her contract
of employment or terms of appointment have been
violated is encouraged to attempt to have the matter
resolved informally.
Both the staff member and the Commissioner-General
may initiate informal resolution including mediation of
the issues involved at any time before or after the staff
member chooses to pursue the matter formally.
The conduct of informal resolution, including
mediation, may result in the extension of deadlines
applicable to decision review and to the filing of an
application with the UNRWA Dispute Tribunal
What is Mediation?
• Mediation is an informal process in
which a trained neutral person, known
as a Mediator, assists the parties to
work toward a resolution of a dispute
with the parties themselves remaining
in control of the final decision.
Mediation at UNRWA
• 14 staff members have been appointed to the Panel
of Mediators, 13 of which have received certification
training in workplace mediation
• The 14 staff members include 7 area and 7
international staff members
• And consist of 6 men and 7 women
• Fields and Staff Unions/Associations were consulted
in bringing consensus to the membership of the
Panel
• Criteria: highest standards of impartiality, integrity
and fairness; and excellent interpersonal,
communication, analytical and problem-solving skills
mediation@unrwa.org
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LFO (Area)
LFO (Int’l)
SARFO (Area)
SARFO (Area)
SARFO (Int’l)
JFO (Area)
JFO (Int’l)
GFO (Area)
GFO (Int’l)
WBFO (Area)
WBFO (Int’l)
HQG (Area)
HQA (Int’l)
HQA (Int’l)
Ms. Suha Ismail, Deputy Chief Field Health Programme
Mr. David Sigurdsson, Operation Support Officer
Mr. Issa Issa, Budget Officer
Ms. Basma Qasmieh, Protocol Officer
Mr. Roger Hearn, Director of UNRWA Affairs
Ms. Lubna Abu Wardeh, Field Admin Officer
Ms. Elaine Blair, Field Procurement & Logistics Officer
Dr. Ghadda al Jadba, Senior Medical Officer
Ms. Cathy Howard, Field Programme Support Officer
Dr. Hasan Tabkhna, Field Office Performance Officer
Ms. Mahmuda Ali, Operation Support Officer Team Leader
Mr. Majed El-Bayed, Head Staff Cost & Standards Budget Section
Ms. Amy Schmidt, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, RSSD
Mr. Kristijan Horvat, Deputy Chief Information Systems Division
**external mediator may be appointed in certain cases
Features of Mediation Process
• The mediator is not a decision maker, but acts
as a facilitator for the parties to come to an
agreement.
• Mediation is a completely confidential process.
• Mediation is a consensual process.
• Any party to the dispute may initiate the informal
process at any stage during a dispute.
• The formal appeals process will be suspended
until the mediation process is completed
Intranet
Visit:
http://intranet.unrwa.org/IDRD