The Arab Mediation Forum is a new platform that convenes leading regional and international mediators and mediation experts. Dialogue and lesson sharing on mediation is more vital in the region than ever before because the spread of conflict in the Arab world over the past decade has eroded generations of developmental progress, produced over 50% of the world's refugees, and reversed the long-term global trend of declining levels of war-related violence. Traditional diplomacy is largely ineffective at tackling complex conflicts in the MENA region and military intervention has produced its own set of severe negative consequences.

Mediation has proven to be one of the most effective responses for conflict prevention and resolution in the region and the field has witnessed a dramatic expansion in policy and scholarly interest. Yet there are very few locally-rooted regional mediation platforms operating in the MENA region.

To redress this gap, CHS has built a partnership with CIT Pax and Casa Arabe - two leading Spanish civil society organizations specialized in conflict mediation. The Arab Mediation Forum brings together leading mediation practitioners representing high-level UN and government diplomatic officials on a regular basis in working groups. The sessions aim to generate lessons learned across cases, advance practical approaches to enhance effectiveness, and ultimately support the capacity-building of the field.