Safe Mediation Code of Conduct

This code reflects the core principles of Safe Mediation while ensuring alignment with global mediation standards and the unique nature of your work. It emphasizes empowerment, accountability, customization, and trauma sensitivity across all services.

1. Commitment to Neutrality and Impartiality

  • Impartial Process: All mediators and staff will maintain strict neutrality in every process, ensuring that no bias or favoritism influences outcomes.
  • Transparency: Our methods and practices will be openly communicated to all parties involved, ensuring clear expectations and trust in the process.
  • Non-Judgmental Engagement: We treat every participant with respect, regardless of the nature of the dispute, avoiding judgments about the people or the issues at hand.

2. Confidentiality and Privacy

  • Confidentiality: All mediation sessions and feedback processes are conducted with the highest level of confidentiality, with no disclosure of information without consent.
  • Anonymity in Feedback: Participants can choose to remain anonymous in feedback portals, ensuring their safety and comfort in sharing experiences.

3. Empowerment and Participant Autonomy

  • Transformative Mediation Principles: We encourage self-empowerment and personal growth, facilitating a process where participants reclaim their own power and voice, recognizing the perspectives of others.
  • Informed Participation: Participants have the right to make informed decisions at every stage of the process, co-creating solutions and determining how to engage.
  • Freedom to Pause or Withdraw: Participants can pause or exit mediation processes if they feel it no longer serves their needs or emotional well-being.

4. Accountability and Responsibility

  • Restorative Justice Focus: We encourage those who have caused harm to take responsibility for their actions, fostering meaningful accountability and opportunities for repair.
  • Long-Term Accountability Processes: Accountability processes are designed to address both individual and systemic issues over a period of 2-5 years, promoting sustained transformation.
  • Acknowledging Power Imbalances: Special attention is given to cases where there are significant power dynamics, ensuring that the less empowered party is supported and their voice is equally heard.

5. Trauma-Informed Practice

  • Trauma Sensitivity: We recognize the impact of trauma in conflicts and ensure that our process is trauma-informed, pacing sessions based on participant readiness and emotional capacity.
  • Emotional Regulation: We use techniques like nonviolent communication (NVC) and therapeutic tools to help participants stay within their transformation zone, avoiding overwhelm or retraumatization.

6. Professionalism and Ethical Standards

  • Adherence to International Standards: Safe Mediation aligns with the ethical guidelines set by the International Mediation Institute, ensuring professionalism in all aspects of our work.
  • Continuous Learning: We commit to ongoing education and improvement of our practices to meet the highest standards in mediation, feedback, and accountability.
  • Handling High-Stakes and Complex Disputes: We are trained to handle crises and emotionally charged situations, always maintaining professionalism and calm under pressure.

7. Customization and Flexibility

  • Tailored Services: All mediation, feedback, and accountability processes are customized to the unique needs of the client, community, or organization.
  • Adaptability: We adapt to the specific cultural, structural, and emotional context of each case, modifying our approach to ensure it meets the needs of all involved.

8. Conflict Coaching and Long-Term Support

  • Ongoing Relationships: We build long-term partnerships with clients, offering follow-up coaching, feedback portals, and continuous support to ensure the integration of outcomes and long-term growth.
  • Conflict Coaching: Personalized coaching is available on demand to help individuals develop skills to navigate current and future conflicts effectively.

9. Integrity in Communication

  • Clear and Constructive Dialogue: All communication in our processes is structured to foster understanding, reduce blame, and encourage compassionate dialogue.
  • Paraphrasing and Message Relaying: For cases where direct communication is not feasible, we facilitate indirect communication through paraphrasing to maintain clarity and respect.

10. Sustainable and Systemic Change

  • Focus on Systemic Change: We are committed to fostering transformative justice, addressing both the individual and structural/cultural causes of harm. Our processes aim for long-term change and organizational improvement.
  • Realistic Expectations: We set realistic expectations about the pace of change, acknowledging that transformation is a gradual process that requires time, reflection, and persistence.

11. Respect for Cultural Diversity

  • Cultural Sensitivity: We approach every case with respect for the cultural context and diversity of participants, ensuring that our methods align with their values and practices.
  • Inclusive Practices: We strive to create an inclusive environment where all participants feel respected, regardless of background or identity.