In 2024, PeaceNexus partnered with the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), to strengthen mediation capacity in complex dispute settings.
As part of this partnership, CAO developed a Capacity Building Toolkit for mediators, drawing on its global experience facilitating dialogue between communities and companies involved in IFC- and MIGA-supported projects. The toolkit is designed to help mediators address mistrust, power imbalances and improve stakeholder knowledge of negotiation processes.
The toolkit was piloted in real-case mediation processes in 2025 and will now be used for CAO’s dispute resolution processes. In 2025 alone, CAO handled 63 cases across 26 countries. As the toolkit is integrated in CAO dispute resolution practice, stakeholders will be better equipped with tested methods that support meaningful participation, enabling the projects’ environmental and social impacts-related disputes to be addressed constructively. While disputes are never a desired outcome of the development projects, effective mediation can mitigate harm, rebuild trust between companies and communities, and contribute to more responsible business practices.