Professional Documents
Culture Documents
of an
power
imbalances among the parties. To do so, they should ensure that there is mutual
respect and equal time and opportunities for each party to express their interests
and to receive all the information they demand from the other parties regarding the
issue. At this stage, the facilitators goal is to minimize the negative effects of the
power-over capacity to maximize the possibilities of the power-within capacity
of the different parties. In other words, the negotiation process should be conducive
to promoting a shift in the parties from their power-over to their power-with
capacity. To do so, the goal of the facilitator should be to help the parties identify
possibilities and areas of cooperation that will result in a win-win agreement.
Once a negotiated agreement between the parties takes shape, the facilitator should
make sure that this agreement is well accepted and reflects the interests of each
individual party. The inclusion in the process of another round of meetings between
the facilitator and each party could be helpful to minimize the negative effects of
the power-over capacity of the stronger parties, which may put pressure on
weaker parties to accept non-beneficial agreements.
Finally, power imbalances can also hinder the implementation of the agreement
when some of the parties try to manipulate the implementation process. To avoid
this danger, the facilitator should make sure that the agreement also includes
mechanisms that allow all the parties to monitor and supervise the implementation
process.
In conclusion, the facilitator plays a very important role in minimizing the negative
effects that power imbalance between the parties can cause in the different stages
of a multi-stakeholder negotiation process. While in the preparation stage of the
negotiation their role is to maximize the power within and power to capacities of
all the individual parties. In the discussion stage, their role is to promote a shift in
the parties from their power over to their power with capacity, helping the
parties to identify possibilities and areas of cooperation that will result in a win-win
agreement.
Fernando Azpiroz
04-October-2008
Antigonish - Nova Scotia
References:
Cunningham. G. & Mathie, A. (2008). Mobilizing assets for community-driven
development. Participant manual. Antigonish, NS. Coady International Institute.
Wallace. R. (2008). Multi-stakeholder negotiations. Participant Manual. Diploma program
2008. Antigonish, NS. Coady International Institute.