Projects

The Dispute Resolution Foundation’s facilitation team has considerable experience working together in large and small group interventions in public policy as well as with justice, business, academia, and with at-risk communities. DRF has consistently been involved in the training and sensitization of thousands of individuals across Jamaica under several internationally funded projects since 1994.

Successful projects of DRF include:

1990s

  • Hosted Prof. Howard Zehr and Ms. Barb Toewes and provided introduction to Restorative Justice to Jamaica and key stakeholders.

2003

  • UNDP workshops for political parties in Spanish Town.

2004

  • National Year of Dispute Resolution Declarations to mark DRF’s 10th Anniversary which allowed for public education, conferences and a host of events to promote dispute resolution in Jamaica.

2005

  • CIDA-funded Peacemaking, Gender Equity & Empowerment for Young Men & Women in Spanish Town & Environs (June, 2005)

2007

  • Certification of Mediators for Belize Family Court in Belize (May, 2007)
  • 40 Hour Basic Mediator Training in Guyana, as well as Mediation 101 Seminar for Attorneys in Guyana (June, 2007)

2009

  • National Year of Dispute Resolution Declarations to mark DRF’s 15th Anniversary which allowed for public education, conferences and a host of events to promote dispute resolution in Jamaica.

2010

  • 40 Hour Basic Mediator Training in Guyana, as well as Mediation 101 Seminars for Attorneys in Guyana.

2012

  • Certification of Mediators for Belize Family Court in Belize
  • DRF/UNICEF funded the School Suspension Intervention Programme. This initiative was supported by the Ministry of Education and was launched in four (4) parishes in Jamaica. A total of 3469 individuals were impacted… 1928 males and 1541 females

 

Other Projects:

  • Being a member of the Design, Strategy and Implementation Team of Partners in Social Conflict & Legal Reform Project of CIDA/GOJ. Other team members/ partners included PALS, the Ministry of Education & Youth, and the Ministry of Justice. The DSI Team of Partners were able to, inter alia:
    • Establish Peace & Justice Centers in Trench Town & Flanker, Montego Bay
    • Conducted pilot Mediation Project in the Supreme Court civil jurisdiction resulting in New Rule, Part #74, Civil Jurisdiction instituting automatic referral of cases to mediation, the most significant change in Jamaica’s justice system in over 60 years.  This service is outsourced to the DRF.
  • OECS/CIDA Judicial & Legal Reform Project involving training in Mediation and ADR in the OECS states and advocacy
  • Advocating for and enabling the design and implementation of mediation programmes in the Resident Magistrates, Petty Sessions and Family Courts with the appropriate legislation and rules; and in the Supreme Court through consultation, negotiation and process design under the GOJ/CIDA-funded Social Conflict & Legal Reform Project working closely with the Ministry of Justice and the Jamaican Bar Association.
  • Working with a cross-disciplinary international team to design the Citizen Security & Justice Programme. This was a US$16 million programme supported by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has been instituted in sixteen (16) corporate area communities. There is the involvement of the public sector (the Ministry of National Security &the Ministry of Justice) as well as civil society organizations to develop and implement this seminal project for the reduction of the murder rate.
  • The DRF has staged five (5) Caribbean Conferences on Dispute Resolution. 4  have been in partnership with the Mona School of Business, UWI and 2 in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Caribbean Branch.

The conferences featured a Youth Day and a Community Day along with a programme of concurrent workshops for dispute resolution practitioners with business and legal streams sharing the latest skills and theories in the field. The most recent conference – in 2011 – featured Arbitration training at Associates and Masters Levels. The conferences had over 300 participants from the Caribbeanand North America, and involved the expertise of international, regional and local facilitators.

  • DRF/UNICEF Adolescent Development and Participation Project – Community Violence Education, Prevention and Youth Peace Facilitators Programme working with Youth Peace Facilitators in Kingston & St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon and St. James.