Since devising the IMI Mediation Training Program Requirements in 2017, important milestones have been reached.
The requirements have served as an inspiration for the Guidelines on Designing and Monitoring Mediation Training Schemes, jointly drafted with an intergovernmental standard-setting body, the CEPEJ of the Council of Europe. In 2019 IMI started to recognise training programs as “Certified Mediator Training Programs” (CMTPs), providing an important service within the mediation space to distinguish training that meets independent international standards and assure candidates of the quality of the programs. For many organisations, the IMI assessment process has been an opportunity to reflect on and improve the design and delivery of their mediation training programs, and has led to a diversification of trainees, as well as possibilities to offer them international networking and further professional development opportunities.
Aside from the prestige of association with the International Mediation Institute, CMTPs have had the benefit of:
- Use of the IMI CMTP logo in conjunction with program and marketing materials;
- Having their Training Program listed on the IMI website and searchable via IMI’s “Find a Program” page;
- Program promotion through IMI’s activities on awareness raising of quality programs and other outreach work;
- Ability to train and assess individuals for the purposes of becoming IMI Qualified Mediators;
- IMI Qualified mediators have an international designation and profile listing on IMI’s website. They may additionally benefit from joining the Young Mediators’ Initiative, a unique networking space of mediators young in experience from across the world, as well as the possibility of joining the IMI-YMI Mentorship Framework. Since March 2022 YMI is accepting new YMI members exclusively from the pool of IMI Qualified mediators.
IMI has until now provided the above benefits and the possibility of marketing courses using IMI’s trust mark free of charge. This has not been financially viable. To continue to make an impact and support the further development of mediation standards worldwide, IMI will start charging CMTPs an annual listing fee.
IMI cannot meet the demand with the current administrative capacities and will be turning to consolidating the exiting network through the audit process and implementing improvements to the credentialing scheme.
Having in mind the increased interest in professional mediator quality assurance and IMI’s international credentialing scheme (read more here), IMI will not be accepting new CMTP applications in the period between 8 September and 8 January 2024.
Further changes of immediate relevance to the CMTP Network will be:
- IMI CMTPs may continue to use the ”IMI CMTP” logo on their program pages and training certificates. A trainee who successfully completes an IMI CMTP training may be referred to as an “IMI CMTP Graduate”.
- From 1 October 2023, the registration fee for the listing of IMI Qualified Mediators will be increasing to €75, excluding VAT. For graduates from jurisdictions where incentives are necessary, and where IMI has a concluded a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Memorandum of Cooperation with a CMTP, IMI is implementing a DEI policy of reduced fees, excluding VAT.
- From 1 January 2024, IMI will only be registering IMI Qualified Profiles with additional features (up to now, known as “Upgraded Profiles or Qualified+”). These profiles facilitate professional development and give a more holistic picture on the mediator, increasing the chance of work opportunities. In line with these changes, all new IMI Qualified Mediators will be required to pay an annual listing fee of €75/reduced fee.
- IMI Qualified Mediators registered during 2023 will be given a one year grace period, after which they will need to start paying an annual fee. IMI Qualified mediators who have been registered prior to 2023 will be approached from January 2024 to pay the annual listing fee.
The International Mediation Institute (IMI) is a Hague-based non-profit public interest initiative to drive transparency and high competency standards into mediation practice, worldwide. IMI was established in 2007 to set out internationally-applicable quality standards for mediators and an international mediator credentialing scheme. IMI continues to work with mediator credentialling institutions around the world to ensure and elevate quality in the field. Through these initiatives, IMI offers a trust mark of high-quality mediators and mediation training, not by requiring uniform standards, but through harmonising mechanisms, such as mediator peer and client review, and a code of professional conduct for mediators based on the overarching principles of transparency, trust, competence, confidentiality and impartiality. Rather than unify regulatory instruments, IMI aims to offer a framework for diverse mediator certification requirements in different countries and in public and private sector service-provider organisations around the world.
IMI is a foundation, currently funded entirely through mediator listing contributions, donations from mediators and board members, pro bono work of its wide network of mediation professionals, as well as organizations’ application processing fees. These contributions are vital to IMI’s ongoing work towards the shared vision of Professional Mediation Worldwide: Promoting Consensus and Access to Justice. Historically, IMI’s funding has come from major corporates and ADR providers. Read more about IMI’s historic patrons which have enabled the establishing of the credentialing scheme, and funding here.
