On May 23, 2012 the UN General Assembly held a day long informal, high-level meeting “The Role of Member States in Mediation,” which called for strengthening mediation efforts. In a panel discussion Youseef Amrani, Morocco’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, said civil society and academia must be involved in mediation efforts. The Foreign Minister of Finland, Erkki Tuomioja, noted that Finland’s mediation strategy is to support the activities of Track II actors (civil society peacebuilding organizations). UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the “Friends of Mediation” group, an initiative of Finland and Turkey begun in 2010 that also emphasizes the importance of Track II actors.

Ki-moon told the session “The more we deal with conflict in a flexible, thoughtful and forward-looking way, the more we will learn to prevent it.” General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said that promoting peaceful settlement of disputes is a pillar of his presidency. For example, he noted a February 2012 meeting in Istanbul focusing on the efforts of Track II actors.
Overall, speakers from many countries provided examples of the positive impact of mediation, and called for more emphasis and resources to support it going forward. Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said the Friends of Mediation was formed to address lack of systemic framework and resources for mediation. Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giulio Terzi Di Sant’Agata, said the June 2011 General Assembly Resolution 65/283 focusing on strengthening mediation is a step in the right direction.
Many speakers noted the importance of making mediation an inclusive process. He said the “circle around the table” should include civil society, particularly women. He said often the primary parties to the conflict “just sat down and decided how to cut the spoils among themselves and went back home to spend their money or live their new political reality.” Instead, he recommended incorporating people in most affected by the conflict, which would increase the potential for effective, lasting agreements. In this respect, he said a paradigm shift in looking at security is needed, so that it is not considered solely through a hard security prism.
U.S. Senior Mediator James Pardew emphasized the need for mediators to be impartial, quoting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who said, “diplomacy is like jazz, it’s a variation on a theme.”