Our Beginnings
Run by an experienced team of mediation professionals and former competitors, International Mediation Singapore, or IMSG, was designed from the ground up to raise the bar in the international mediation competition circuit.
In 2019, IMSG was born.
Organised by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and co-organised by the NUS Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club, Peacemakers Consulting Services and the Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution Team, IMSG is the first ever international moot organised in Singapore that focuses on mediation advocacy and mediation.
The inaugural edition sought to commemorate the signing of the Singapore Convention on Mediation (formally the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation), as well as to bring together the best teams from around the world to celebrate a shared passion for mediation. The countries represented at the inaugural competition included Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United States of America, and Vietnam.
Since then, the competition has become truly international; (i) tertiary students from around the world compete as mediation advocates and mediators, and (ii) the competition’s judges are drawn from professional mediators on SIMI’s international panel.
In 2020, IMSG pressed on.
Despite the disruptions posed by COVID-19, IMSG became one of the largest online competitions in the international mediation competition circuit, with the world’s first multi-party mediation session in a mediation competition setting. Naturally, IMSG was adapted into a reimagined, virtual format. It continued to preserve opportunities for attendees to form meaningful connections through team engagement activities and networking events held throughout the competition. IMSG even saw a rise in the number of participants, from 140 in 2019 to 173 in 2020.
In 2021, IMSG revamped its brand identity.
In a new era, the founding members of the Organising Committee decided to move away from the colours of IMSG’s parent organisation. A new navy blue and gold theme was borne out of a desire to establish a fresh, premier look befitting the quality IMSG offers.
Previous Iterations
Find out more about the past iterations below
IMSG 2019
held from 2 to 4 August 2019
IMSG 2020
held from 24 October to 12 November 2020
IMSG 2021
held from 22 October to 5 November 2021