On 13 October 2026, as a side event of the UNCITRAL meeting, IOMed and the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN in Vienna co-hosted a dialogue at the UN Office at Vienna to enhance understanding and reflection on international mediation culture.
Keynote addresses were delivered by Prof. Teresa Cheng (IOMed Secretary-General), Ambassador Li Song (Permanent Representative of China), Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret (Secretary of UNCITRAL), Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee (former UN Resident Coordinator in China and CEO of Global Neighbours), and the Ambassadors of Ghana and Kenya. The dialogue was attended by 150+ participants, including Ambassadors, senior diplomats and representatives to the UNCITRAL meeting.
Prof. Cheng delineated IOMed’s development from inception to operation, noting that it now has 48 signatory or acceding States spanning various continents. As the world’s first intergovernmental organization dedicated to mediation, IOMed will complement existing dispute resolution mechanisms and continuously foster international understanding and trust in mediation.
Ambassador Li Song stated that the establishment of IOMed is a concrete manifestation of implementing the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the Global Governance Initiative, an innovative step toward operationalizing the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes enshrined in the UN Charter.
Link to full session recording: https://youtu.be/P3GVMz4ijrY
