Background

The fora where peace and development issues are debated and pushed forward are mostly of multilateral nature. In a multilateral context, effective negotiation skills and understanding of the negotiation context are critical for managing interdependencies, leveraging power and influencing outcomes. Mastering negotiation tools can therefore assist in securing internationally valuable agreements. This has become all the more important as the issues at stake in international negotiations have become increasingly complex, climate change being only one example. These global challenges require concerted multilateral action, which further underscores the need for strategically negotiated agreements.                                        

Objectives

This workshop’s objective is to improve international cooperation through more effective negotiating in a multilateral context. To this end, at the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Define and distinguish the purposes, products and processes of multilateral conferences; Assess the strategies and techniques for producing good negotiated outcomes; Anticipate and address the main challenges in multilateral negotiations; Analyse negotiation dynamics, based on case studies presented by international experts.

Topics

The workshop takes place over two full days and includes the following core modules:

• Introduction to multilateral conferences;
• Conference and negotiation dynamics;
• Preparing for multilateral negotiations;
• Managing difficult negotiations and negotiators;
• Roundtable discussion with senior diplomats on negotiations challenges;
• Key skills of effective negotiators.

Methodology
As a skills-building face-to-face event, this workshop is facilitated by experienced trainers and features experts from Permanent Missions and the United Nations system. The workshop takes a participatory and practice‐oriented approach, integrating practical exercises, case studies, interactive lectures and peer‐to‐peer learning. Participants also receive study materials to enhance their holistic understanding about multilateral negotiations.

Date and Venue

The workshop will take place on Monday, 11 March from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 03:00 pm to 5:00 pm and on Tuesday, 12 March from 10:00 am to 01:00 pm and from 03:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the UN in New York, 313 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Registration and Participation Fee

Organizations and individuals who wish to participate in this workshop are requested to register online at http://www.unitar.org/event/new-york. The participation fee for this course is of USD 550.

Contact

For further information or in case of any doubts or questions, please contact Ms. Tatiana Lopez at tatiana.lopez@unitar.org or at 212 963 9196.