The Center for Dispute Resolution's involvement with Jamaica
began when Jamaican government officials expressed concerns about
the rise of violence in their country. Former minister of Justice,
R. Carl Rattray, Q.C., spoke of his hopes for the success of the
project when he said, "Mediation can inject a gentleness
in the way we handle problems. We need that so badly in Jamaica."
In 1984, the Center began a four-year process of working with
Jamaican officials and private leaders to engage in strategic
planning, fund raising and grant writing. Two grants from the
Ford Foundation totaling $200,000 initiated the Jamaica/Capital
Project, which was a joint project of the Jamaican Bar Association
and the CDR. The goal of the project was to establish an island-wide
dispute resolution program for the courts, communities, and police.
To ensure broad-based support and institutionalization of dispute
resolution after Capital's formal involvement ended, the Project
leaders made several strategic decisions. Initial planning conferences
were held for members of each of the target groups. Once their
support was secured, the Center's directors wrote a mediation
training manual and created five training videos, which were filmed
on-site in Jamaica and starred Jamaican nationals. Next, a group
of individuals were selected from each of the target groups and
given mediation training. This group then became the Jamaican
mediation training team that trained other individuals with the
assistance of the Center's trainers. Throughout the project, representatives
from the Center and Capital University delivered speeches and
made presentations at various sites across Jamaica to increase
public awareness of dispute resolution methods.
