UNITAR Guides Participants on the Road to a “Yessable” Agreement

Group Photo 13 – 14 January 2015, Geneva, Switzerland – Negotiation is a key aspect of the professional life of diplomats. Regardless of whether in a bilateral meeting over lunch or in a multilateral setting with hundreds of participants, diplomats need to employ effective negotiation strategies in order to achieve the most effective outcomes for their party, country or organization. Given the importance of negotiations in the diplomatic community and beyond, UNITAR’s Multilateral Diplomacy Programme organized a two-day Negotiation Workshop in Geneva from 13 to 14 January 2015 as part of its Core Diplomatic Training (CDT) activities.

20 participants took the opportunity of this workshop to strengthen their negotiation skills under the guidance of one of the world’s leading experts in the field, Alain Lempereur. Alain is the Alan B. Slifka Chair Professor at Brandeis University (Boston, US) and an associated faculty and a member of the Executive Committee of the Programon Negotiation at Harvard Law School. He has run consulting missions for several UN entities and is a member of the UN mediators’ network.

Through practical simulations and engaging exercises, the participants experienced first-hand the importance of effective preparations to the success of negotiations and practiced how to apply a range of strategies to ensure an acceptable – or in the words of Alain Lempereur “yessable” – agreement for all negotiating parties. The high level of interactivity and the excellent teaching skills of the trainer yielded highly positive comments from the beneficiaries. One participant, for instance, noted: “This was wonderful! Alain Lempereur was an excellent wealth of information and experience.” And another participant added: “This was an excellent opportunity to meet friends, reinforce links between us and continue learning.” All participants agreed that their awareness and understanding of key negotiation techniques was significantly increased by following this workshop, and agreed unanimously that they would recommend the workshop to a colleague.

UNITAR wishes to thank both Alain Lempereur and the participants for a brilliant start to the 2015 Core Diplomatic Training (CDT) calendar and looks forward to offering other activities and exciting opportunities to the diplomatic community in Geneva and other major UN cities throughout the New Year, 2015.

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