The Excellent Intercultural Mediator

In our country we are accustomed to the mediator being called after the conflict has occurred, and even though this is one of the moments of their intervention, it is not the only one...

Indeed, the mediator must be there, in the search for an agreement between parties where diversity is one of the key factors in the disagreement, and not only must it be there, but the excellent mediator knows how to put his/her training, negotiation qualities and cultural competencies at the service of the search for that agreement.

Sometimes the mediator is called to that intervention as a solver of the conflict, a professional who is expected to find a solution to the disagreement that has occurred, and this is where the error occurs, since the mediator is not the one who provides the solution, but on the contrary, is the person who helps the parties find that agreement themselves.

By the way, when one of the parties does not want to participate in this intervention, or does not want to reach an agreement, it will be impossible to find them, and that will not be the reason for the mediator to be more or less competent.

But, in addition, the excellent mediator should not reduce his/her field of action to those specific intervention actions, but should also have at least two more key moments in his/her performance.

A/to mediator/to excellent intercultural must know how to accompany in the inclusion processes of people who are joining society, being a guide, a guide, and where migrants can find in him/her support, a staff to hold on to and, above all, a reference person, with a proven prestige.

This accompaniment process can be done in different ways, either individually or through others, putting into practice accompaniment or mentoring methodologies in groups.

But an excellent intercultural mediator must have a third characteristic, one that is scarcely appreciated and that is equally or more important than the previous two. A good intercultural mediator must work towards a mediation preventive. A mediator works in silence so that conflict does not occur, knowing that, in intercultural contact, conflict occurs naturally.

So as we see, and as a summary, the excellent intercultural mediator must iintervene with solvency helping the parties in specific moments of intervention, but it must also accompany processes of inclusion of migrants and must work towards preventive mediation, three characteristics that place the intercultural mediator in excellence and that drive a clear perception of this figure as a professional who provides added value to the social cohesion of society in the future.