Who are we?
The Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) is a civil society, public law organization in Jamaica, created to facilitate and encourage the practice and application of various Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods in the courts and throughout the wider society across the region. The DRF works with the Courts, Ministry of Justice and other ministries, departments and agencies in Jamaica and the Caribbean and helps to strengthen the region’s agenda for justice, peace and development, through advocacy, training and other related services.
OUR History
The Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF), formerly the Mediation Council of Jamaica, was incorporated under the Companies Act on July 11, 1994 as a not-for-profit organization. The rationale for the establishment of the agency is embedded in the vital need to promote more non-violent ways of resolving disputes in Jamaica.
In its formative years, the DRF was funded by the Ford Foundation and later by a grant from USAID. The Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR) and the United Way of Jamaica also played an integral role in the company’s conception and early operations. With support from these entities, the DRF began its mission of initiating steps towards the introduction of a culture of peace in Jamaica, through the use of ADR (i.e. mediation). The company’s sustained determination to implement a successful model of Dispute Resolution has led to it being locally, regionally and internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field.
Our Mission
To achieve accommodative and non-violent relationships between citizens, corporations and other organizations within a democratic and restorative justice framework, thereby profiting the citizens, communities and the country by strengthening and expanding the use of mediation and other alternative effective methods of preventing and resolving disputes in Jamaica and the region.
our objectives
• To establish methods of resolving disputes in Jamaica which are supplementary, complementary or alternative to litigation, called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques;
• To encourage and educate the public about using ADR techniques to handle conflicts and differences without resorting to violence;
• To establish several dispute resolution facilities in communities throughout Jamaica;
• To explore and establish such ADR techniques as methods of resolving domestic, commercial, industrial, political and social disputes among members of the Jamaican community;
• To increase the use of mediation services by the legal profession as a dispute resolution option.
our core values
• Affirmation
• Cooperation
• Communication
• Respect
• Confidentiality
• Neutrality