Ukrainian-Georgian cooperation on the development of mediation in labor disputes
On May 9, 2023, a trilateral meeting was held online between Dmytro Kukhniuk, Chairman of the National Service of Mediation and Reconciliation, Svitlana Zapara, First Deputy Chairman, Oksana Koval, Director of the Education and Research Institute of Communications of West Ukrainian National University, and Irakli Kandashvili, President of the Association of Mediators, Chairman of the Educational Council of the Georgian Bar Association, CEDR accredited mediator.
At the beginning of the meeting, they discussed the activities and powers of the National Service of Mediation and Reconciliation of Ukraine, and then - cooperation, joint actions and ways of their implementation in terms of joining efforts in the development of mediation in general and mediation in labor disputes in particular.
In particular, the focus was on the following issues:
- exchange of experience on labor mediation in Georgia and other countries;
- participation in training seminars with representatives of the parties to social dialogue on mediation issues;
- assistance in preparing programs for training mediators;
- support for the organization of the system of training and professional development of labor mediators;
- providing expert support to the NSMR in the development of the draft law "On Collective Labor Disputes" in terms of practical application of mediation in the system of collective labor rights protection, etc.
Dmytro Kukhniuk emphasized that cooperation and joint efforts are important for strengthening the institutional capacity of the NSMR. Therefore, the parties agreed on further working meetings and joint actions to implement the discussed issues.
We sincerely hope that there can be a great synergy between universities, organizations, training programs and projects that will help Ukraine, Europe and the world. We look forward to fruitful cooperation and the involvement of students and teachers of the Psychology of Negotiation and Mediation program of West Ukrainian National University in joint projects between Ukraine and Georgia.