Alternative Dispute Resolution has superior benefits – GNAAP president
The use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in settling conflicts has superior benefits compared to the court system, President of the Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners (GNAAP), Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng has said.
“Beyond the cost effectiveness and timely benefits of ADR, it is able to reconcile disputants to de-escalate conflicts and prevent them from degenerating to violent levels,” he said.
Mr Owusu-Koranteng made these remarks at the graduation ceremony of 48 graduates who had completed the Executive Master in Professional ADR at the Institute of Paralegal Training and Leadership Studies (IPLS) in Accra over the weekend.
He therefore, called on the government to support the training of ADR professionals and ensure that people appointed to positions of responsibility and trust have training in ADR since conflict resolution was a key management function.
The GNAAP president advocated the need for government to invest in the promotion of ADR in Ghana because the country had the potential to be the ADR hub for Africa and at the global level.
Mr Owusu-Koranteng stated that ADR had its roots in “our traditional system of dispute Resolution where peace building is an important aspect of conflict resolution.”
He advised the graduates to take ethics of the ADR Practice serious as they would soon be inducted into GNAAP which was now the only ADR Professional body in Ghana.
“We are putting structures in place to ensure that members undertake their professional practice based on the ethics of the profession,” he stated.
Mr Owusu-Koranteng congratulated the graduands for sacrificing their busy schedules to undertake the 15-Week ADR course.
The guest speaker, Reverend Dorcas Koomson of the Methodist Church of Ghana described the work of ADR Practitioners as very important because ADR Practitioners were agents of peace.
“Our society needs honest and dedicated people to be ADR Professionals to be able to reduce the number of cases that have piled up in the courts, “she said.
The Governor of IPLS, Mr Alex Nartey commended them for the choice they have made to promote ADR in the country.
He encouraged professionals to add knowledge in conflict resolution to their already existing professions.
BY NORMAN COOPER
