Mercy Corps Conflict Management Group

Mercy Corps Director at Large, Landrum Bolling (right) and Roger Fisher at the Roger Fisher House. Photo: Laura Guimond/Mercy Corps.

Mercy Corps has merged with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Conflict Management Group (CMG). The fusion of the two organizations gives Mercy Corps a wealth of knowledge and experience in defusing crises and peace building.

CMG is a think tank with close ties to Harvard University and a reputation for innovative peace-building work in troubled regions worldwide. CMG was founded in 1984 by the legendary Roger Fisher, whose renowned book Getting to Yes established the model for resolving conflict through peaceful means.

The CMG merger expands Fisher's legacy by tapping into Mercy Corps' broad global reach. For Mercy Corps, CMG's expertise enhances its ongoing commitment to integrate shorter-term relief with long-term development programs in countries recovering from conflict, war and economic despair.

"We believe this merger positions us to provide innovative, leading-edge solutions to the complex humanitarian challenges of the 21st Century," says Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer. "Our world is changing, with more - and more complex - conflicts causing suffering and terror for millions worldwide. Relief and development organizations need to find new solutions that resolve the underlying causes of conflict, and the Mercy Corps-CMG merger provides methods for doing just this."

CMG is an intellectual leader in conflict resolution with a track record of taking on the toughest peace challenges, from Northern Ireland to the Korean peninsula. CMG has a staff of conflict management experts whose work often involves facilitating negotiations in conflict-affected countries.

CMG's work has included:

• Negotiation and leadership trainings in ethnically tense areas of the former Soviet Union and newly independent states
• Developing foreign relations and trade relations policies between South and North Korea
• Facilitating discussions to resolve an Ecuador-Peru border dispute
• Consultations on conflict management for members of the Organization of African Unity
• Negotiation trainings with officials in Northern Ireland to help consolidate the peace process

Mercy Corps' focus on conflict management and peace building are centered in CMG's Roger Fisher House in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mercy Corps Conflict Management Group is active in places like Sudan's troubled Darfur region and Kosovo, where efforts to build lasting, peaceful solutions to complex political and humanitarian challenges are underway.