As the Secretary-General announced on 13 September, the establishment of the Board is part of the “surge in diplomacy for peace” he has consistently advocated, and gives due priority to the prevention and mediation work of the United Nations. The Board is expected to allow the United Nations to work more effectively with regional organizations, non-governmental groups and others involved in mediation around the world.

The Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation held its second meeting on 18 June 2018 in Helsinki, Finland.  The meeting was co-hosted by the Governments of Finland and Indonesia.

Following the meeting, a public event was held with Board members to discuss mediation efforts and preventive diplomacy and current challenges in the field.  The panel event, titled “The state of mediation and conflict prevention today”, was moderated by Board member Jean-Marie Guéhenno before an invited audience from Finnish government, academic and policy circles, the Helsinki-based diplomatic community, as well as members of the media. 

The panel discussion was webcast live on https://formin.videosync.fi/state-of-mediation-and-conflict-prevention