Wided Bouchamaoui

Mrs Wided Bouchamaoui is a Nobel Peace Prize co-winner. In her capacity as president of the Tunisian Union for Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA, Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat), she launched, together with the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail), the Tunisian National Dialogue initiative, which was later joined by the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers (Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie), forming thus what became known as the ‘Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet’, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 thanks to a successful mediation that ended the political stalemate in Tunisia.

Mrs Bouchamaoui is the first Tunisian woman to be elected to the presidency of the Tunisian Union for Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, where she held the position between May 2011 and January 2018. In 2013 she was chosen as one of the most influential businesswomen in Africa and was elected by the G8 ‘Deauville Partnership’ as the ‘Best Businesswoman in the Arab World’. She was nominated for the Business for Peace Prize 2014. In October 2017, Mrs Bouchamaoui was elected Vice President of the European Center for Peace and Development at the United Nations University for Peace in Belgrade. In June 2018, she joined the board of directors of the San Jose University of Peace in Costa Rica. She was appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron as chair of the Steering Committee for the ‘Two Shores Summit’ held in June 2019, where she was tasked with overseeing the development of a charter in favor of equality as a member of the Advisory Board for the Gender Equality Council.

In addition to being a successful businesswoman, Mrs Bouchamaoui is known for her tireless advocacy for gender equality, supporting dialogue, peacebuilding, and improving the level of education in her country and around the world. She has been involved in resolving political and commercial disputes and encouraging dialogues with trade unions. Mrs Bouchamaoui was awarded a number of appreciation awards and honours in her country and abroad for her involvement in promoting peace and encouraging dialogue. She has been selected as a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediation Network with the aim of sharing her mediation experience and helping to find peaceful solutions to disputes across the world.

Mrs Bouchamaoui was awarded a number of appreciation awards and honours in her country and abroad for her involvement in promoting peace and encouraging dialogue. She has been selected as a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediation Network with the aim of sharing her mediation experience and helping to find peaceful solutions to disputes across the world.

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If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Nelson Mandela

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