Sign the Mediation Pledge

All of us love to have a peaceful life. But sometimes problems emerge in our life. It could be from our own family, friends or relatives, neighbours or business partners or it could from the social tensions or political debates tearing the social fabric of our country. We have seen that many of the crimes originate from trivial civil or personal issues.

Both you and I will probably agree that most of these atrocities, disputes and violence were not heard of during the earlier days and we feel a sort of lonesomeness and lack of support from the community, when we face a dispute. In the olden days the society was more connected and the relationships were more caring and people had the time to help and take care of persons who faced conflicts. But when people became busy with their work and lifestyles and when they became more urbanized, we lost the persons who had time, knowledge and empathy to hear the disputants and help them to resolve it, and thereby resolve it then and there and stopping the negative factor from growing and widening its fangs, blowing it into a fight, causing loss to both parties and their loved ones. We always hoped that someone will support us in resolving our disputes early.

We can see that most of these disputes could be sorted out at the beginning, if someone had intervened. If only there is someone to help us to resolve our disputes amicably, there wouldn’t be scores of unresolved civil and criminal cases pending in our courts.

Forget about all that is happening in front of all of us and the ways in which such disputes happened and the ways by which the disputants are treated by the authorities. Most of the institutions are not able to come to our rescue when we need it. We don’t need any scientific study to prove all these. The facts are before us. So, what will we do about all these?

We cannot sit confused, worried, frustrated or hopeless thinking that we cannot do anything to improve the situation. We need to take control, we need to empower ourselves, and we need to take charge of our capacity to resolve our disputes. We need to understand that if we can create disputes, we can also resolve them!

When people trust each other, they take ownership of their problems and practice stewardship. People who do not trust one another will end up cooperating only under a system of formal rules and regulations, which have to be litigated and enforced, sometimes by coercive means.

There is a culture of conflict which influences how we respond to it. This is where the culture of mediation evolves. Each stage of cultural progression, leads to the growth and development of civilization. It requires a whole bunch of people to do it, and that doesn’t just happen magically. This is where a large number of people have come together and have taken up the cause to improve the system. It is proved that the choice of a person or group of persons can ultimately influence the society to bring about the Cultural Revolution!

This exclusive community has voluntarily signed the “Pledge to Mediate”, by which they would consider mediation as the first option to resolve their disputes with other persons, recognizing that the empowerment to resolve disputes amicably and voluntarily is an expression of civil maturity. Let us start taking control! Let us make the change! Become part of this movement!

As Mahatma Gandhi has said, "The world will live in peace, only when the individuals composing it make up their minds to do so".

We invite you to be part of the revolution, because we want to do this together and make this world a better and more honest place. Though individually a small step, collectively a big change! The joy of creating strong families and healthy communities can come from joining hearts, souls and hands. Take the Pledge and join the exclusive community and comment below to support the cause, because we want to hear from you.

Send us your comments at pmc@arbitrationindia.com

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Recognizing that the empowerment to resolve disputes amicably and voluntarily is an expression of civil maturity, IIAM in association with India International ADR Association (IIADRA) has formulated “Pledge to Mediate” among companies and organisations as part of promoting best governance and speedy justice. See details