The IOMed Convention: How It Could Redefine Cross-Border Mediation

The Birth of the IOMed

On 30 May 2025, the global dispute resolution landscape quietly shifted. In Hong Kong SAR, 33 countries signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (“IOMed”), the world’s first intergovernmental body dedicated solely to mediation.

More than 400 representatives from 85 countries and 20 international and regional organizations gathered for the signing. The Convention entered into force on 29 August 2025. At its inaugural meeting held on 20 October 2025, the Governing Council authorised the commencement of operations with effect from the same date. On paper, it appears to be just another treaty. In practice, however, it could reshape how governments, businesses, and individuals resolve some of the world’s most complex disputes.

Why does this matter now? For decades, mediation has lived in the shadow of arbitration and litigation, praised for its flexibility but lacking the institutional backbone to rival them. The IOMed could change this.

Mediation Steps Out of the Shadows

Mediation has always promised something courts and arbitral tribunals cannot: outcomes that preserve relationships rather than destroy them. While mediation had received treaty recognition through the ICSID Convention, restricted to investor-state conciliation, and the Singapore Convention, which addressed the enforcement of mediated settlements, no dedicated intergovernmental framework existed.

The IOMed Convention addresses this gap, institutionalising mediation itself as a treaty-based mechanism for resolving international disputes. It creates a permanent organization with legal personality, a governing council of states, and leadership roles open only to nationals of contracting states. In other words, mediation now has a seat at the table of international law.

How the IOMed Has Made Itself Unique

The IOMed is not a vague promise; it has teeth. The Convention envisages two separate panels of mediators: one for State-to-State disputes and another for disputes involving States and private parties, including commercial disputes. This matters because mediation in international politics requires a different skillset than mediation in business contracts. The Convention acknowledges this nuance, demanding that State-to-State mediators bring not only legal knowledge but also diplomatic judgment and geopolitical experience.

Consent remains its bedrock. No State can be dragged into a mediation without agreeing, and countries can expressly exclude sensitive disputes such as sovereignty or maritime boundaries from the IOMed’s purview. Far from weakening the system, these safeguards are likely to make the Convention more attractive to States.

The Convention takes an important step toward building global trust in mediation. By granting immunity to mediators and participants from arrest, detention, or legal action for what’s said or disclosed in mediation, it protects the process from fear or interference. This isn’t just a legal safeguard; it’s a confidence-building move that encourages openness and integrity. It may be an early step, but it’s a bold one, showing IOMed’s intent to make mediation a safer, more credible space for resolving disputes.

What makes the IOMed particularly intriguing is its accessibility. It may also provide mediation for non-contracting states or international organizations, should they wish to submit their disputes, subject to the rules adopted by the Governing Council of the IOMed. Such inclusivity could allow the IOMed to become a hub for dialogue at a time when global cooperation often feels gridlocked. It is not a court, and it will not hand down binding decisions unless parties agree. Instead, it offers a structured, principled, and confidential process for parties to craft their own solutions – as is the inherent asset of mediation – with the legitimacy of an international institution behind it.

The Quiet Gaps in the Convention

The IOMed Convention opens the door for the mediation of “international commercial disputes,” but it stops short of defining exactly what that means. It simply provides that the Organization will offer mediation services for disputes arising out of or related to international commercial relationships between private parties, subject to conditions set by the Governing Council. In practice, how the Council chooses to interpret and apply these provisions will play a crucial role in shaping the Convention’s real-world impact.

The Convention also leaves it to the parties to agree on suspending the limitation period during mediation as per applicable laws, a provision that realistically, is unlikely to see easy consensus, and to agree on whether mediation can run alongside other dispute resolution proceedings. Such flexibility, while well-intentioned, could lead to uncertainty and uneven outcomes, especially in cross-border disputes where different legal systems come into play.

When it comes to enforcement, the Convention provides that settlement agreements arising from international commercial disputes may be enforced by the contracting states, who should agree on a protocol specifying the conditions of enforcing such settlement agreements. Notably, it says nothing about the enforcement of state-to-state settlement agreements, leaving a notable gap in the framework for intergovernmental disputes.

The Governing Council also carries significant responsibilities, including adopting the rules of procedure for mediation, maintaining mediator panels, and approving the Secretariat’s capacity-building and fellowship programs. The success and credibility of IOMed will hinge on how actively and thoughtfully the Council pursues these tasks.

A Space Created for Everyone

At a time when arbitration often feels prohibitively expensive or adversarial, the IOMed offers something different: a forum designed to de-escalate, not inflame.

For businesses engaged in cross-border trade, this means a credible path to settle disputes without burning bridges.

For States, it offers a way to manage conflicts without locking themselves into binding rulings that might be politically impossible to implement.

For professionals, lawyers, mediators, and policy advisors, it signals an emerging market for a new breed of expertise: not just legal knowledge, but skills in negotiation, psychology, cross-cultural communication, and strategic problem-solving.

When the World Trade Organization was created, it reshaped trade. When the International Criminal Court was launched, it changed how we view accountability. The IOMed may not have the same headline-grabbing impact, but time will tell whether it redefines how conflicts are prevented, managed, and resolved across borders.

Mediation as the Primary Strategy, Not a Soft Alternative

As of 20 October 2025, only eight countries - China, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Congo, Kiribati, Pakistan, Kenya, and Dominica - have ratified the Convention. Major hubs like Europe, India, and Singapore are notably absent, reflecting a cautious approach. This hesitation likely stems from concerns over enforcement and procedural gaps left to the Governing Council.

Like all new institutions, the IOMed will need trust, early successes, and a generation of professionals ready to champion it. If mediation is to mature into a global institution, practitioners and policymakers will need to take it seriously, not as a “softer” option, but as a strategic one.

That is the challenge and opportunity: to ensure that this new framework is not just another treaty on paper, but a living mechanism that reshapes how the world deals with conflict. Whether you are a lawyer, business leader, diplomat, or student of international affairs, the message is clear: mediation is no longer an afterthought. With the IOMed, it could become the default.