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MEDIATORS BEYOND BORDERS INTERNATIONAL - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - TRAINING FOCUS ON WOMEN AS MEDIATORS

Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBB) will hold its 6^th Annual Congress this fall in Istanbul, Turkey from September 27-28^th, 2013. This year’s Congress is entitled Building Peace“Able” Communities: Enhancing the Role of Mediators, and will have a specific focus on women in mediation.

• The Mediation Beyond Borders International Training Institute (MBBITI) will hold its second training conference during the two days before the Congress in Istanbul, from September 25-26^th, 2013. The goal of this training is to bring together women leaders, who are working in their local communities to resolve conflicts, heal their communities, and build lasting peace within their communities. The training will gather up to 20 women community leaders for a 2-day training in conflict resolution and mediation skills and practices. Applicants from MBB’s projects and from the MENA ** region will be accepted based upon their applications.

We are currently inviting applications for this program. The deadline for receipt of all applications is Tuesday, March 26^th, 2013. Please find application details below. All those accepted to participate in the training will be invited to attend and participate in the Congress.

      WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS TRAINING PROGRAM?

This program seeks participants who will bring their community experience, ability, commitment and aspirations to become active members in mediation and conflict resolution in their respective communities.     

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Ability - Persons with a combination of some knowledge, skills and competencies, who have or can work with various aspects of mediation, community dialogue and other peacebuilding techniques in performing your community work. A participant must demonstrate that she can learn mediation skills and master other conflict resolution competencies quickly.

Commitment - Each applicant is expected to commit to building long-term capacity for conflict-resolution in her community. Participants will have demonstrated commitment to making a difference, doing what it takes, and bringing out the best in themselves and others.  They must be able to show their ability to persevere with personal and professional change in the face of difficult challenges and potential conflict situations. 

Aspiration - The extent to which a participant wants or desires recognition, advancement, and the opportunity to make a greater impact in bringing peacebuilding skills and capacities to their community. Participants must demonstrate their interest in developing a leadership role in conflict resolution as well as striving to play a role in peace negotiations as stated in UN Security Council Resolution 1325.  

Execution - Examples of proven leadership and commitment to building skills used to avoid conflict as manifested in their attitude and in the impact they have had on their community.

Selection Criteria

To gain the most out of this experience, we think that participants must:

· Have sufficient written and spoken English skills, and feel comfortable processing information delivered in English.   

· Be from a country with some conflict experience including pre- and post-conflict zones.

· Have a minimum of two years of experience in a leadership role with engagement in social justice, gender issues, and conflict resolution skills, or promoting peacemaking.

· NGO experience is desirable.  Applicants from governmental agencies will be considered for future trainings, but not this one.

· Be willing and able to devote additional time outside their normal working hours to fully engage in mediation and conflict resolution (if this is not already part of their typical work day) in their community.

· Be an advocate and be willing to share the knowledge gained in the training with other community members.  

We will make every attempt to cover expenses for exceptional candidates.  As it is unlikely that we can cover costs for all candidates, we hope you will discuss this with your NGO and request others to contribute to your expenses as much as possible, particularly airfare. We encourage all to apply. It is expected that candidates pay for their airfare to Turkey and if possible, contribute to expenses.  MBBITI is currently looking for funding to assist those who need it to attend. Scholarships may be made available to cover travel costs for qualified applicants who can show need.

Please submit your curriculum vitae, a cover letter, and two references, in addition to the attached application form, to MBBconference@gmail.com , no later than 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday 26 March.

The cover and reference letters should articulate how this relates to your current work and how you foresee this training benefiting your community work.

** The broad definition of MENA region is inclusive of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Djibouti, Georgia, Malta, Somalia, Sudan & Turkey  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA