Program Officer Ted Feifer conducted a Negotiation and Diplomatic Skills Workshop for the OSCE Mission to Moldova, in Chisinau, March 30-April 1, 2004. This was our first training program for OSCE in Moldova.
Program Officer Ted Feifer conducted a Negotiation and Diplomatic Skills Workshop for the OSCE Mission to Moldova, in Chisinau, March 30-April 1, 2004. This was our first training program for OSCE in Moldova. There were 19 participants in the workshop, 10 international and 9 national staff, coming from all the sections in the mission.
This OSCE Mission is small in size but has high-profile mandates: to help mediate (together with Russia and Ukraine) the Transdniestria separatist conflict; facilitate the withdrawal of Russian military stores and personnel from Transdniestria; fight trafficking in persons; and address human rights, democratization, minority rights and other issues. Program objectives were to strengthen participants' problem-solving, communication, negotiation and third-party skills, as well as to share their experiences and lessons learned in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
Participants appreciated the short presentations and realistic exercises that kept them focused on program objectives. The heavily interactive nature of the program also gave participants lots of opportunities to practice and refine the negotiation and diplomatic skills discussed. One participant noted how her enhanced understanding of negotiations and dealing with difficult people could be especially useful in a country like Moldova. All the participants found the exercises and simulations highly rewarding, with one noting how his role-playing had made him more aware of practical ways to strengthen his approach to negotiation.
