The Mediation Support Unit (MSU) in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) serves as the UN system-wide focal point on mediation expertise and support. The Unit, inter-alia, provides tailored operational support to peace and dialogue processes through expert staff from the Unit and the Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisors (SBT).
What We Do
MSU’s core competencies include operational assistance with mediation and peace processes, targeted capacity building to partners, and developing mediation guidance, lessons learned, and best practices.
MSU staff, including in-house experts on ceasefires, constitution-making, and process design, are able to provide tailored support throughout the planning, implementation and evaluation phases of a mediation process. The Unit also manages the Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers (SBT), which can be mobilized as a complementary mediation support capacity.
The Unit organizes a series of flagship trainings, including the UN High Level Mediation Course, the Ceasefire Mediation Course and the Women in Ceasefire Negotiations Course. MSU furthermore develops and maintains guidance and resources for mediators. This includes a searchable database of peace agreements – allowing mediators to compare language across some 75,000+ provisions of 1,300 agreements. When requested, MSU also provides tailored guidance, often involving comparative case analysis, to field missions.
MSU partners frequently with various regional organizations. It is also a member of several mediation networks, including the Group of Friends on Mediation and the Mediation Support Network, and engages regularly with the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks.
DPPA’s mediation support capacity relies predominantly on funding from the Multi-Year Appeal (MYA) – including to allow for on-the-ground support to peace discussions. Sustained funding will allow MSU to continue to deploy operational expert support where needed and to develop innovative approaches and mediation guidance in emerging fields such as digital technologies, climate, local and sub-national mediation, and the youth, peace and security agenda.
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Expanding Our Knowledge and Helping Others to Learn
The Guidance is designed to support United Nations senior leader- ship and staff, mediators, and facilitators within and outside the UN, along with their teams, conflict parties, representatives of States and regional organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, women’s groups and other stakeholders in peace processes.
This paper captures key lessons learned in the author's two-year secondment to the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) Policy and Mediation Division, Mediation Support Unit, during which the author supported constitution-making processes and provided advice on handling constitutional issues.
This Practice Note outlines circumstances under which more direct involvement with local conflicts and mediation processes might be strategically relevant for United Nations mediators working on national political processes.
This practice note, a DPPA-OHCHR collaboration, delves into practical strategies and real-world examples to help mediators and human rights practitioners weave human rights principles and considerations into their work in general and in every step of mediation efforts specifically. The note shows that human rights offer practical solutions to many of the challenging issues that mediators try to address.
Produced jointly by DPPA Mediation Support Unit and swisspeace, this paper discusses the impact of social media on peace mediation, makes practical suggestions for mediators and their teams, and poses questions for further consideration and analysis. The paper also includes illustrative examples of practical social media uses.
Digital technologies are also changing the character of conflict as parties increasingly rely on them to advance their objectives. Mediators and their teams need to consider additional factors such as the digital ecosystem of a given setting and how digital technologies and related data issues influence the power dynamics of a conflict. To address these new developments and help mediators and political affairs officers navigate the issues, the DPPA Policy and Mediation Division has prepared a Framework for Digital Technology-sensitive Conflict Analysis.
Visit the resources page for further guidance, policy and practice documents on mediation.
2023 Highlights
2023 Support by Theme
2023 Support by Region
The Mediation Support Unit (MSU) in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) serves as the UN system-wide focal point on mediation expertise and support.