Bogota D.C., June 2023. The Chamber of Commerce of Bogota will hold next Tuesday, June 20, the event "How to mediate conflicts and promote diversity in schools", which aims to recognize the importance of school mediation in the processes of restorative justice and inclusion in relationships in school environments, through the identification of key elements for restoration, repair, gender equity, diversity and inclusion, and which is aimed at managers, coordinators, teachers of public and private educational institutions.

Arturo Suárez, professor and researcher at the National University of Colombia, will participate in the event and will talk about mediation as a mechanism for strengthening the notion of restorative justice in schools. Astrid Iriarte, administrative coordinator of the Chamber of Diversity, will also participate with her presentation on diversity and inclusion as a possibility for peaceful coexistence. To attend the event register at https://forms.office.com/r/4UXiWnj55i

Students who are part of the Youth Network of Mediators, which has the participation of more than 6000 young people who promote peaceful coexistence in 450 educational institutions (IED) in Bogota and the region. Through the program, students are trained to solve conflicts in educational institutions using conflict resolution mechanisms, which include strategies to prevent bullying and cyberbullying, which, according to studies conducted by the entity, prevent about 80% of cases of bullying.

Nicolás Uribe Rueda, president of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce stated that "The Hermes program allows us to bring all the knowledge of conflict resolution of the Arbitration and Conciliation Center to educational institutions, especially public ones, to achieve peaceful coexistence of students and prevent Bullying and Cyberbullying. With this program, we work with students, teachers, directors and family members of students, achieving a real and effective intervention in more than 209 thousand cases, to date".

The CCB's Hermes program is a pioneer in the field of school mediation. It was born in 2001 and since then it has become a national and international reference in conflict management in school scenarios, with recognition by ECLAC as the best innovative experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Hermes is present in 450 educational institutions in Bogota and the Region, and in 2022 achieved the training and certification of 5885 actors as school mediators, and 6754 interventions in type I school conflicts through the figure of mediation in the school environment.

This initiative involves students in a proactive and participatory process that leads them to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner, leaving aside physical and verbal aggression, to prevent the escalation of the conflict, which in most cases becomes bullying.

The Youth Network

The Youth Mediators Network is composed of all the young mediators of the Hermes program in Bogota and the municipalities of Cundinamarca. As part of its tools to promote dialogue within educational institutions, students, teachers and parents, the CCB recently launched the first Comprehensive Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention Kit, which provides first aid with educational and didactic material to identify, prevent and deal with cases of bullying. The kit can be consulted at https://bibliotecadigital.ccb.org.co/handle/11520/27715 and since its launch has registered more than 500 downloads.