Between the 25th and the 29th of November of 2013, the CAAL, an Angolan arbitration dispute center based in Luanda, and Convirgente, with the support of the Angolan Bar Association and the Qualifying Assessment Program for Portuguese speaking countries represented by ICFML (Instituto de Certificação e Formação de Mediadores Lusófonos), organized a course on Mediation, in Luanda, Angola. The training purpose was to give participants the necessary skills to act as mediators in several types of disputes. The course, that put the emphasis on practical training and observation of cases-studies, gave the participants the possibility to qualify for being certified mediators of the ICFML, the QAP of the International Mediation Institute in Portuguese speaking countries along with the knowledge and capacity to solve different kinds of professional and personal disputes.
The facilitators of this first course were Nuno Albuquerque, the founding partner of N-Advogados – Lawyers firm headquartered in Portugal and with offices in Angola, Brazil, Mozambique and France, a Portuguese-Angolan lawyer with great experience in national and international disputes resolution and Ana Maria Maia Gonçalves, an IMI certified mediator, trainer and lawyer, currently based in the United States, a highly experienced mediator and expert in mediation matters for several European institutions. The course targets judges, lawyers, jurists, notaries and business leaders who intend to develop a practical capacity in addition to negotiation, and all other professionals who intend to acquire a Mediator certification.
The course was a great success, with 20 participants who were unanimous to declare that they had developed new abilities in communication, negotiation, facilitation and observation of different behaviors during conflicts’ resolution. Mediation is an extrajudicial alternative dispute resolution process, private and voluntary, in which the responsibility of the construction of the decisions is up to the parties involved in the dispute. It is a process where parties have achieved on average more than 70% of success rate in the past 20 years in countries like the USA, England and Australia, with great additional benefits, such as celerity, confidentiality, lower costs and autonomy in the definition of the right solution.
CAAL is an institutionalized arbitration center, with power to solve disputes through mediation, conciliation or arbitration techniques and procedures relating to a whole interests set worthy of Law protection, including civil, corporate and administrative litigation.
According to the nature of the dispute, CAAL will select the most specialized arbitrators or mediators to resolve the case. Those neutrals are specialized professionals in their areas, ensuring a fast but fair resolution in total confidentiality, with low costs to the parties and enforceable settlements. The parties can select the arbitrators or mediators that they think will be the most suited to their case and who are fluent in Portuguese and/or English.
The ICFML is a non-profit organization that work with individuals and organizations who believe in mediation as a tool for promoting peace in society. Its mission is to promote the collaboration and peace through the development and professionalization of mediation in Portuguese speaking countries. ICFML develop and implement Qualifying Assessment Programs IN PORTUGUESE for IMI (International Mediation Institute – imimediation.org) certification of international mediators and is the only Portuguese Portuguese organization approved by the IMI to do so. Partnering with Local entities, Governmental entities and similar organizations, companies, foundations and NGOs, chambers of commerce, schools and universities, training organizations and mediation centers, actors in the legal world, or just with individuals, ICFML is committed to bring excellence in the professionalization of mediation.
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