President Ahtisaari hands out Mediator Awards to two pupils on national Ahtisaari Day

The number of Finnish mediator pupils is already 7,000

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The first national Ahtisaari Day was celebrated in Oulu on Wednesday November 16th.
      Former President Martti Ahtisaari visited the Kastelli Comprehensive School and the Oulun Lyseo Upper Secondary School, awarding the mediators chosen by the schools. Two teachers from the Kastelli School’s sister school in Namibia were also present.
     
The first Mediator Award was given to Borys Filist, 12, at the Kastelli School. He reported that teachers intervene in the scuffles of pupils, directing them to voluntary mediation. After signing a written commitment, the pupils apologise to each other. No punishments are ordered.
      Another award was given to a Japanese-born Finn Mari Ukonmaanaho, 18, who is a student at the Oulun Lyseo Upper Secondary School. Together with other pupils, she organised a campaign, collecting funds to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake earlier this year.
     
The Finnish National Board of Education is encouraging all schools to celebrate the National Ahtisaari Day.
      One way to celebrate is to choose a mediator for their own school.
      ”Mediation helps one to maintain healthy self-esteem. Such a person is also tolerant. However, it does not mean that one should tolerate injustice”, Ahtisaari comments.
      ”The purpose of mediation is not to find the guilty party but to resolve the conflict”, Filist adds.
      ”In Namibia violent behaviour and bullying are also intercepted at the earliest possible stage with the help of mediation”, says principal Hermanus Böck from the Namibian Katutura School.
      According to vice-principal Samuli Rauhala, mediation has achieved good results in the Kastelli Comprehensive School with 480 pupils, even though this has been the first year of using the method.
      ”The trained mediators have had almost 20 assignments this autumn: various kinds of brawls and quarrels. Mediation negotiations are held during the break at 12:00”, Rauhala continues.
     
For the past 11 years, a private enterprise named Verso has been offering training for peer mediators.
      A total of 360 Finnish schools have gone through Verso’s training.
      The schools have approximately 7,000 mediator pupils and 1,500 mediation tutors.
      The annual number of cases under mediation is about 25 per school.
      Almost all of these 9,000 conflicts can be settled successfully.
      The method has also been introduced at daycare centres and vocational schools.
      ”The plan is to adopt the method even in upper secondary schools, where it could be used to help students who are lonely and are becoming estranged from the school”, reports principal Mika Aalto of the Oulun Lyseo Upper Secondary School.
     
According to Ahtisaari, similar mediation methods could also be applicable to crises and disputes in families.
      ”Retired persons could be used as mediators”, Ahtisaari suggests.
     
Martti Ahtisaari is the tenth President of Finland (1994-2000), a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2008), and a United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.
      Ahtisaari and his group, Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), have contributed to resolving conflicts in Kosovo, Iraq, Northern Ireland, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa.
      The plan to establish a national Ahtisaari Day emerged in the wake of the Nobel Prize award, with the date being fixed on or around Martinmas (November 11th), after the former head of state's first name, Martti.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Former President Ahtisaari may visit North Korea with delegation of "Elders" (11.4.2011)
  Martti Ahtisaari wins 2008 Nobel Peace Prize (10.10.2008)
  Martti Ahtisaari receives UNESCO Peace Prize (3.10.2008)

See also:
  The two stories of Martti Ahtisaari (25.10.2011)
  WIKILEAKS: US diplomatic cables portray Ahtisaari as straight-talking and formidable peace mediator (14.2.2011)
  Ahtisaari Day to mark Finnish peace mediation activities (5.4.2011)

Links:
  Martti Ahtisaari (Wikipedia)
  Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)

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