President John F Kennedy was visiting NASA headquarters for the first time in 1961. As he walked along, he introduced himself to a janitor mopping the floor and asked him what he was doing. The janitor replied I am helping put a man on the moon’.

I recently conducted a Webinar interview with Sriram Panchu, one of India's leading mediators, on his experience using "virtual" mediation during the Covid-19 shutdown in his country. Mr. Panchu was quick to correct my terminology, suggesting that he refers to his current mediation practice as "enhanced mediation," given the added value of technology.

Individuals with disabilities should have access to tools to settle all types of conflicts including discrimination issues. Mediation is a tool that is useful and practical for all members of society including this population.

“If the point of mediation is to get us to talk to each other, why would you ever speak to us separately?”  The purpose of facilitative mediation is to enable the parties to decide on an outcome together. That means communication between the parties is critical to the process.

The cultural background of the […] [participants] - primarily their ethnicity or gender - is seen as a factor in preferring certain processes over others, and setting particular goals - for example, community harmony or individual recognition and reward. - Julie Macfarlane

The normalization agreements realized between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, through diplomatic mediation, can serve as a model for business leaders for the use of mediation not only in high conflict circumstances but also merely for exploiting the potential of relationships and upgrading of existing ties.