Merita Bala

Senior Fellow – Albania

Merita Bala is the program manager for the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes (AFCR). She is also a mediator with the Compliance, Advisor, and Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group and serves as a panel mediator for both ADR Center Global and the Office of the Ombudsman of the United Nations Funds and Programmes.

About Merita Bala

Merita Bala is an accredited mediator based in Albania. She began mediating in 2002, when she worked at the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes (AFCR), a national civil society organization established in 1995 to promote the development of ADR and mediation.

Ms. Bala has contributed to the development and management of programs focused on mediation, restorative justice, and peer mediation. At AFCR, she served as a manager and reviewer of cases handled by mediators under various projects, and has also been engaged as a trainer in the area of conflict management by AFCR and other stakeholders.

Since December 2013, Ms. Bala has been involved as a mediator/facilitator with the Compliance, Advisor, and Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group. She is also part of the mediators’ panel of the ADR Center Global and is a member of the Global Mediation Unit of the Office of the Ombudsman of the United Nations Funds and Programmes.

Mediation Practice

Ms. Bala has been an accredited mediator with the Albanian Ministry of Justice since 2012, and has served as a co-mediator/facilitator in community-company disputes in Albania as part of the CAO dispute resolution mechanism. Ms. Bala also has specialized experience in restorative justice for juveniles.

ADR Achievements and Training

ADR Achievements & Training

Ms. Bala has served as both a program manager and a mediator at AFCR where she has played a major role in efforts to advance the development of mediation in Albania in both civil and criminal cases. These efforts include her contributions to the improvements of the legal framework, awareness-raising among institutions and the public, capacity building for mediators and other stakeholders, and mediation provisions.
She has managed mediation pilot projects in Albania, such as the restorative justice program for juveniles, whose practice and recommendations have led to the provision of restorative justice and mediation in the Juvenile Justice Code, approved in 2017.
Currently, Ms. Bala is a member of an expert group established by a project focused on strengthening the mediation system in Albania. This project has been implemented in partnership with the CSSP Berlin – Center for Integrative Mediation Germany, the Albanian National Chamber of Mediators, the Ministry of Justice, and AFCR.
Ms. Bala was awarded the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship in 2019.
She is trained in mediation and conflict management nationally and internationally. Her ADR training includes:
- Mediation training in community-company dispute resolution, CAO, Kenya, Washington D.C., and Greece, 2016, 2018
- Training of Trainers in Mediation, Slynn Foundation, UK, 2014; She also served as an interpreter in ten basic and advanced training courses in mediation delivered by the Slynn Foundation in Albania, 2011-2015
- Eight days of basic and advanced level training in “Mediation in Family and Commercial Cases,” USAID, Albania, 2011
- Training of Trainers in Restorative Justice and Mediation, The Albanian School of Magistrates, 2009
- Peacemaking circles training organized in Norway by the Norwegian Mediation Services in cooperation with The Canadian Gathering Power for Human Development Organization, 2007

ADR Teaching and Mentoring

Over a number of years, Ms. Bala has been engaged as an expert and trainer in the area of conflict management through mediation, restorative justice, and peer mediation by AFCR, UNICEF, Save the Children, Institute for Democracy and Mediation, Terre de Hommes, CSSP Berlin – Center for Integrative Mediation Germany, and the International Finance Cooperation. These trainings have been delivered to various groups, including juvenile justice professionals, mediators, high school students, and teachers.

She also taught “Mediation Theory and Practice” in a postgraduate program at the University of Tirana on Conflict Resolution Through Mediation (2018-2019).

Publications and Education

Publications

Ms. Bala is co-author of many manuals on mediation, restorative justice, and peer mediation prepared by AFCR.

Educational Qualifications

Master’s Degree in European Studies, University of Tirana, Albania (2012)
Bachelor’s Degree in English-Albanian Translation and Interpreting (2009)