The Community Mediation Services Division has reached the milestone of its 13th year anniversary. Functions of the Community Mediation Services Division (CMSD) are closely aligned with and contribute greatly to the realization of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts' National Development Goal - Putting People First: Nurturing Our Greatest Asset. The staff of the division interact directly with our citizens, providing them with the tools needed to improve their quality of life and relationships in the spaces they occupy, whether at home, school, work or in their community.
Through its (8) Mediation Centers, the division bridges the gap of discord and encourages persons to “Talk it out… Not fight it out”. The CMSD provides emotional intelligence skills training and deliberate interventions to address social issues as they impact communities, promoting values, attitudes and behaviours that inculcate a culture of peace and ultimately enhance the productivity of society.
Beyond the mediation and social work intervention services provided, the division empowers communities through its various programmes for parents and men, as well as its Youth Peer Mediation and Remediation Programme for young offenders. Restorative Practice and developmental programmes through the Community Empowerment programme, and Public Education Programme not only support resilient communities but support sustainability.
With more than 65,000 persons having accessed the services since the division’s inception in 2006, the CMSD is steadily attaining success towards peace in communities with over 5,700 cases being successfully mediated, out of a case load of over 13,804. Also, over 12,300 individuals have benefitted from counselling services provided as a social work intervention.
While all these achievements are significant, the one we are most proud of is the Peer Mediation Programme where over 500 hundred children across primary and secondary schools have benefitted through Peer Mediation Camps and the Division’s Peer Mediation Programme in schools. These are just a few of the division’s achievements to date, and the achievement of other milestones are on the horizon. We look forward to the launch of the Mediation Mobile Unit (MMU), an upcoming feature and the newest tool in the Community Mediation kit. This unit will reach persons in rural areas, opening up their access to valuable services.