Impressions of the competition for excellent grassroots mediators

(Baonghean) - The conflicts and difficulties that occur every day are dramatized by plays and attractive skits by grassroots mediators, truly leaving a deep impression on every viewer through the "3rd Provincial Excellent Grassroots Mediator" contest organized by the Nghe An Department of Justice on November 21 and 22 in Vinh City.

This time, there were 19 teams from districts, cities and towns in the province participating in the "Excellent grassroots mediators" contest. The mediators went through the following competitions: Greeting, handling situations; answering theory and talent. The legal knowledge applied to mediation at the grassroots focused on the fields of domestic violence prevention; drug prevention; gender equality, marriage and family, Law on Forest Protection and Development; land disputes...

Skit of Vinh City unit



The sketch "Whose fault is it" by Dien Chau district unit



First prize awarded to Vinh City team

It is worth noting that the contestants coming to this contest were very confident when standing on stage to answer random questions (by drawing lots by the judges), showing that the members of each team were very well prepared. There were situations related to land, civil affairs, and family that were relatively complicated, but the contestants followed the provisions of the law to handle them accurately. Many teams also related the reality in their place of residence with specific incidents that had occurred, making the contest more vivid and convincing to the audience.

The talent competition left the deepest impression. The conflicts and difficulties that occur in daily life such as: the story of a drunken husband who beats his wife and children; the story of a neighbor losing a chicken, cursing loudly, causing the loss of neighborly affection; the story of brothers, fathers and sons losing their friendship and affection because of land disputes... were transformed into plays, humorous and attractive skits with high educational value. With their understanding of the law, traditions and good customs of the nation, with their patience and ingenuity, each disagreement and conflict was gradually resolved by the mediator. The conflicting parties calmly recognized their shortcomings and incorrect behaviors, recognized the sustainable values ​​in life... Through that, we can see that mediation work at the grassroots level is truly a bridge to eliminate conflicts, contributing to limiting the bad consequences of disputes in the community.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thao, from the Thuan Son commune competition team, Do Luong, said: “As a grassroots mediator, we often face situations, contradictions, and conflicts in daily life. Therefore, if we do not know how to mediate, do not understand the law, do not know how to persuade, and analyze rationally, it is very difficult to succeed. Through the competition, we mediators have the opportunity to interact with other teams, improve our mediation skills; gain more experience and improve our understanding of the law...”

The contest was organized enthusiastically from the commune, commune cluster, and district levels, creating a campaign to disseminate the law to all classes of people. Mr. Ngo Van Hoa, Head of the Justice Department of Tuong Duong district, said: “Since September, the contest for excellent grassroots mediators has been deployed to 18/18 communes and towns, 100% of villages and hamlets organized the contest, attracting a large number of mediators in villages and hamlets to participate. The success of the contest is that the grassroots mediators' capacity has been improved; good mediation models have been encouraged to be replicated; and active mediators have been honored. In particular, the contest has had a strong impact on the legal awareness of the people, especially the people in remote communes and along the border; through the skits performed by the mediators themselves with specific, familiar, close situations that occur in daily life, it has helped the people realize many things...”

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Huu Thuan, Director of the Department of Justice, Head of the Organizing Committee of the contest emphasized: “Through this contest, it has clearly shown the steadfastness and clear progress in professional expertise, mediation skills, situation handling, as well as the courage of the mediators. The contest is a good opportunity to enhance the role and knowledge of grassroots mediators, and at the same time is a campaign to widely propagate and disseminate the law to all people, especially people in remote communes...”

In many districts, after the contest, the skits were recorded, filmed, and printed on discs for dissemination to the people; the best skits were selected to be performed for the public to see. Mr. Nguyen Minh Hanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Do Luong district, said: "From the district-level contest, we have selected the best skits. On the weekly law dissemination day, the district Radio and Television Station will rebroadcast the performances. At the same time, the teams will be invited to perform the winning skits at the cultural houses of villages and hamlets to create a strong effect in the community..."

Duy Nam