To ensure conciliation and arbitration boards provide best practice mediation services to the Jamat, Mawlana Hazar Imam has called on ICAB to ensure that all members were trained and qualified to provide competent services to the Jamat. ICAB, with the approval of Mawlana Hazar Imam, selected as its training partner the London-based Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), an international organisation known for conducting training in mediation at public and private institutions in many countries where Jamati and AKDN institutions are active. The first two train-the-trainer programmes were held in 2013 and 2014, and over 50 mediation skills training sessions have since been delivered in 11 different languages to over 2,000 members from around the world. The training is conducted within six months of CAB appointments through a rigorous five-day mediation and conciliation training programme, designed to provide members with a thorough understanding of mediation processes, principles, and skills through classroom instruction and role-plays. The course stresses best practices in facilitating the resolution of disputes to ensure a fair and neutral process as well as creating a culture for resolving disputes in a peaceful and ethical manner.
ICAB, with the support of its certified trainers, provides members continuing professional development courses, which include case studies that reflect the type and nature of cases that conciliation and arbitration boards deal with globally.
The recruitment efforts for the third train-the-trainer programme included announcements in Jamatkhanas around the world and in their respective digital publications and platforms during the month of March 2023. ICAB received over 260 applications globally. The top 40 applicants whose resumes aligned more closely with the terms of reference were invited to a rigorous interview process, which included a presentation to an interview panel. After completion of the recruitment process, the interview panels provided their recommendation to ICAB, who made their final selections in May 2023.
In his guidance to ICAB in 2014, Mawlana Hazar Imam was hopeful that the work done by the ICAB through its global training programmes of CAB members, would encourage murids who are in potentially conflictual situations to seek more and more the assistance of the CAB system, to achieve negotiated solutions, independent from the costs and risks of unfair or incompetent judgments.
With the addition of 17 new certified trainers, CAB members will continue to receive best in class training to help them serve the global Jamat, in their national languages, and under a uniform and internationally-recognised platform.
For more information about the Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, please visit the.ismaili/CAB.
