Mediators

Ayat Mohamed is a Gender Analyst at the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria. She had previously worked on women and civil society inclusion in the Syrian political process with the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF). She is a strong proponent of women’s inclusion in political processes, mediation efforts and on all levels. Ms. Mohamed has experience in mediation support, social dialogue, inclusive peace processes. She has written on hybrid mediation and women in peace processes. She has experience working on Middle East contexts. Ms. Mohamed has an MA degree in political science, and speaks Arabic, English, and intermediate French.

Magda Zenon is a peace and human rights activist who brings with her a perspective formed within the contexts of having lived in apartheid South Africa, Greece, and now divided Cyprus. She is an active member of the local civil society with a focus on the integration of a gender perspective in peace processes. She has helped found several civil society organizations, including “Hands Across the Divide”, “the Gender Advisory Team”, and the Cyprus Women’s Lobby and is also a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network and the Women Mediators of the Commonwealth network. She has helped organise a variety of events with multicultural women’s and youth groups, including two innovative events whose intention it was to broaden the base of active women on the island. The first was the ‘Pathways towards Sustainable Peace: Building UNSC Res 1325 on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Cyprus’ conference in 2017 that brought together over 50 local women to discuss women, peace and security. The second was the ‘Women in Peacebuilding and Mediation in Cyprus: Where we Are and Where to Next?’ workshop in 2018 that brought together a diverse group of women from throughout the island to assess the status of the women’s peacebuilding movement in Cyprus and analyse obstacles and challenges limiting women’s meaningful participation in formal peace-talks. Finally, she is a great believer in the power of storytelling and for over 6 years has hosted online conversations entitled kaleidHERscope with inspiring women from around the world about peacebuilding, gender-based violence and women’s participation in decision-making.

Ms. Bouchamaoui is a shareholder and administrator of the Hedi Bouchamaoui Group. In May 2011, she was elected President of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), being the first women to be appointed in this position. In 2013, UTICA, together with the Tunisian General Labour Union, the Tunisian Human Rights League, and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers, launched “The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet”, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for their successful mediation between political and social actors. She has been identified as one of the most influential business women in Africa and has been nominated by the Deauville Partnership « Best Business Women of the Arab World » in 2013 during the G8. Additionally, in 2014 she was a laureate for the « Business for Peace Award ». In these past years, she has been involved in several Foundations promoting education, equality and dialogue for a sustainable peace. Additionally, in October 2017, she was elected Vice President of the European Centre for Peace and Development, established by the UN, within the University of Peace in Belgrade. In June 2018, she became a member of the council at the San José Peace University in Costa Rica. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, nominated her president of the Steering Committee of the Summit of the Two Shores held in June 2019 and invited her to become member of the Consultative Council on gender equality. She joined the MWMN to share her experience and to contribute to helping find peaceful solutions to the conflict afflicting the world.