Cultural awareness --- When negotiating at the local level with local leaders, the cultural environment and customs are determinant; in this scenario, non-verbal communication plays an essential role in each meeting of the process; basic issues such as the level of authority of key players in direct negotiations or gender considerations determine access and openness to the negotiator from the first meetings.

Therefore, training staff in cultural awareness-where most of the time the rules are not written-is necessary and a sign of respect to create bonds of trust with the parties.

Since my professional experience - different, as I come from the CIMIC field - I would like to mention the KLE meetings in Lebanon with local leaders, from the very first moment contacts were established to find out each other and deal with future problems that might arise or unblock specific issues, always keeping cultural awareness in mind.

Source author: Virginia Maria Callau Vidal vircavidal@hotmail.com