The United Nations Development Programme is pleased to announce a call for participants in:

International Commercial Negotiation and Mediation Training and Practice Programme

26-31 January 2026 at AUIB, Baghdad, Iraq 📍

Are you:

• A student of law or business interested in international commercial dispute management and resolution?
• Looking to learn and strengthen negotiation skills?
• Interested in gaining experience in international commercial mediation?
• Hoping to improve your professional English while working on practical case studies?
• Wanting to meet and network with students and professionals in dispute resolution?

If yes, then this programme is for you!

About the Training

This six-day training programme offers an introduction to international commercial negotiation and mediation as effective methods of resolving business disputes.

Participants will learn:

• The basic principles of mediation and how it differs from litigation and arbitration.
• How to analyse disputes and prepare for negotiation or mediation.
• How to develop negotiation and mediation strategies.
• Key negotiation skills.

• How to conduct a mediation session in the role of business or legal representatives.

   

Each training week includes:

• Four days of intensive instruction.

• Two days of simulated negotiations and mediation practice, with professional feedback throughout.

   

Who Can Apply

Teams applying for the training in Baghdad must meet the following criteria:

• Consist of four full-time or part-time student members, at least two of which must be students of law,

• Team members must be current students in a Bachelor’s program (3–4 years) or at Masters level studies to be eligible for participation in the training programme. 

• Team members must have a sufficiently good command of the English language, as the training, practice will be in English,

• Team members must be fully committed to all six (full) days of the training, 

• Team members must have an interest in different forms of dispute resolution and in acquiring negotiation skills, 

Trainers and Coaches

Dr. Greg Bond

Greg is based in Germany where he works as a mediator and trainer with his own company, bond and bond mediation and coaching (www.bond-bond.de), as well as a university lecturer in conflict management and mediation at Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau (near Berlin). He has a Master’s in Mediation from European University Viadrina Frankfurt / Oder, Germany. He is a certified mediator in Germany and works internationally as a trainer and expert. He is a member of the academic advisory board of the Master’s in Mediation and Conflict Management at European University Viadrina and a professor in mediation at New Vision University, Tbilisi, Georgia. He has trained mediators with UNDP and USAID programmes in a number of countries. He has extensive experience in international student moots and competitions in commercial mediation, including:

• International Chamber of Commerce International Mediation Competition, Paris, France: former member of the Rules Working Group; current chair of the Problems Working Group; mediator, judge, coach
• IBA-VIAC IBA – VIAC CDRC Mediation & Negotiation Competition, Vienna, Austria: former chair of the Case Working Group; expert assessor
• International Investor-State Mediation Competition (IIMC), Colombo, Sri Lanka: chair of Case Drafting Working Group; consultant

Greg will coach teams from Iraq and KRI if they are accepted to compete in Vienna or Colombo.

Sophie Tkemaladze

Sophie joined UNDP Iraq in May 2023 as Team Lead on Commercial Dispute Resolution of the Anti-Corruption and Arbitration Initiatives funded by the European Union (EU). Previously, Sophie advised EU, UNDP, USAID, GIZ programs on the development of arbitration and mediation in several countries of Europe, Central and South-East Asia. In her own country, Georgia, Sophie leads the field of Dispute Resolution in many capacities, including as the Chair of the Georgian Association of Arbitrators (2017–2021) and as the member of the Governing Board of the Georgian Association of Mediators (2019–2022).

Sophie is a practising mediator and arbitrator. She also has 15 years’ experience of training judges, lawyers, public servants and students in the skills of mediation and the law and practice of international commercial arbitration. She is assistant professor at New Vision University and a fellow and approved international faculty of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). Since September 2022 she has been a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Arbitration and ADR.

Sophie holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University, an LL.M. in International Business Law from Central European University, and a Diploma in Law from Tbilisi State University.

How to apply for the training

Each university can only nominate one team for the training and practice program. Interested teams should register on or before 25 December 2025.

Apply Now

Questions?

For inquiries about the training programme: hayder.hameed@undp.org

Information Session:

UNDP will hold an information session on 17 December 2025 at 21:00 (Baghdad time) via Zoom. Please fill out the registration form above to receive the link.