VOICE OF REASON

INTERNATIONAL MEDIATOR WU YE-MIN ON THE COMPLEXITIES OF NEGOTIATING ARMED CONFLICTS, BALANCING MOTHERHOOD WITH A DEMANDING JOB, AND WHY MORE WOMEN SHOULD BE AT THE PEACE TABLE.

- CHERYL LAI-LIM

For someone with a job that centres around brokering peace, the everyday life of Wu Ye-Min, who works in one of the world's most influential conflict mediation organisations, is currently quite chaotic. She has just returned from a family holiday abroad (it's one of the 40 overseas trips she took in 2022, though they were mostly for work); her two children, eight and 10, have just started school; and she has barely even had time to settle into her office, though it has already been over a year since she took over from her predecessor.

Ye-Min joined the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) in January 2022 as the regional director for South and Southeast Asia. The non-profit organisation specialises in resolving armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy. "HD is what we call 'the boots and the suits'. We go on the ground to understand the situation, complexities and needs, and thereafter, we take that back up directly to the governmental or official level. This means that whatever that's being negotiated becomes more meaningful and sustainable," she describes.

It's not exactly uncharted waters; prior to HD, Ye-Min had spent 15 years as a diplomat representing Singapore at intergovernmental organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Having sat at countless tables with multifarious issues at stake, she is all too familiar with the chaotic nature of negotiations. One of the tricks to a successful negotiation is warmth, she reveals. "If you're meeting someone new, you treat the person as a human being beyond the flag or organisation they represent. Exuding warmth helps them to understand that you are also a human being, and that's where the connection begins for diplomacy to happen," she says.