561. Other AEDR mechanisms are employed to fill a credibility gap that exists in the formal EDR system because of either political conflict or institutional weaknesses. Such AEDR mechanisms come into play when a serious dispute arises in relation to the holding of an election, its unfolding or outcome. The resolution of the dispute or challenge is entrusted on an extraordinary and exceptional basis to an ad hoc body not originally provided for in the EDR system. Good examples are the use of negotiation and mediation in the cases of Kenya and Zimbabwe to create governments of national unity in order to resolve political-electoral conflicts that erupted following disputed elections in the two countries in 2008 and 2009 respectively. 2. The evolution of alternative dispute resolution 562. Resolving electoral disputes outside the normal courts is not new. Societies the world over have long used non-judicial, indigenous or informal methods to resolve electoral conflicts and other disputes. For example, in the USA, AEDR mechanisms were introduced in some states in the 1970s to resolve communitywide civil rights disputes through mediation and to address the increased delays in and expense of litigation arising from an overcrowded court system. 563. What is new, however, is the proliferation of AEDR mechanisms and their wider use and institutionalization around the world, especially in post-conflict societies, in recent years. The benefits of the use of AEDR mechanisms go beyond the political and electoral arena. They can be used, for example, to resolve complex problems at community level in circumstances when relationships between the disputants have to be maintained, community cooperation has to be strengthened and alternatives to violence or litigation are needed. 564. In South Africa, the advent of democracy in the 1990s saw large-scale experimentation with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in areas such as labour disputes, access to justice, service delivery and, most importantly, the conduct of the first democratic elections, which were held in 1994. Various ADR structures were created to deal with the plethora of disputes during these contentious elections and relieve the tense political climate; they included community-based conflict management structures and political party liaison committees. These structures used AEDR mechanisms such as negotiation, mediation and arbitration to resolve conflicts at all levels of government, that is, national, provincial and local (see also paragraph 579 and box 8.1). Box 8.1. South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission conflict management programme Joram Rukambe South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission established a conflict management programme in 1999. This programme operates only at election time and draws on 184