Volume 9 – 2016, No. 1

This article focuses on the commonly referred to intractable conflicts that the United Nations, UNDP and other international organizations have been immersed in for many years and how mediation has evolved over the years. International intractable conflicts pose serious threats to the regions where the conflict is occurring as well as neighbouring states and across the globe. Many international actors become involved in attempting to manage the escalation of international conflicts and history has shown us that not all interventions are successful (Israel/Palestine, Cuba/USA, Ukraine/Russia, Spain/England-Gibraltar etc.) In fact, some interventions have exacerbated the conflict and escalated the tension between the parties. The United Nations have implemented numerous programs including an Insider Mediation program to address the intractable conflicts that ore occurring across the globe. This article briefly outlines the various conflict resolution approaches undertaken by the UN over the years.

The neighborhood and / or Community Mediation is an effective mechanism for citizen participation since it requires community members to become involved in matters of social interest, from a non-adversarial and desjudicializado space. The possibilities of incorporating this social technology for social coexistence are numerous and applicable for example to new scenarios as is the incorporation of the community to the risk management of new projects environmental impact assessment or reducing social conflict. However, empirical evidence indicates that institutions in Chile has not allowed its application in these spaces, the article seeks to substantiate the application possibilities of having these techniques in the democratic strengthening of citizenship and the pursuit of sustainable development, with communities able to manage their interests and conflicts arising from land use.

This article presents the dramatic social changes that have occurred in recent decades that affect how families manage cares for dependent family members. This circumstance causes significant conflicts and disputes in the people’s natural networks of support that are necessary for the normalization of these support channels, based on the bonds of affection that characterize societies. Also, this article presents the benefits of mediation by exemplifying usual conflict situations related to dependent persons, with special emphasis on the tools and techniques that the mediator must use for a peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Enneagram, a personality classification system, can be a useful tool for mediation purposes as it helps express real needs, with confidence in oneself and in others, and reduce stress. It is necessary to work on the bonds between the parties even before initiating agreements, for the latter to be satisfactory in the long run. Enneagram can be used to discover which areas and contents are to be developed in every person, and what is the main resistance. It helps understand positions based on each individual’s personality style. It also facilitates managing underlying emotions in order to release attitudes which affect the positive evolution of the conflict. All in all, enneagram might be a suitable tool to ease the communication process. This article is a brief introduction to the 9 enneatypes’ personality and how to deal with them in mediation.