Mediators

Bochra Bel Haj Hmida is an attorney at the Court of Cassation and a member of the Assembly of People’s Representatives since 2014. She is a feminist activist who has contributed to the creation of several associations and has participated in human rights campaigns. She was the President of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and then appointed General Secretary from 2003 to 2005. She is a member of the first network of Arab women. Additionally, she is also the co-founder and member of The Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region, working with women in conflict zones on UNSC Resolution 1325 related issues. She was appointed President of the Committee on Rights and Freedoms of the People’s Assembly, is President of the Committee on Individual Freedoms and Equality and a member of the G7 Advisory Council for Gender Equality. She has given several conferences internationally. She was awarded honors by several Arab and Western organizations and women’s magazines additionally to being given the medal of the Type 2 Order of the Republic, the Anna Lindh Civil Society Award in 2015, the Hero award of the Global Campaign against Extremism and Intolerance from the International Coalition of Hope and the Fatima El Fehri award from the Muslims for Progressive Values Association. She has always been involved in mediation, as a lawyer practicing family mediation, as an activist when attending international trials and investigation on human rights violations including sexual violence in conflict zones and as a member of parliament negotiating between parties including for the introduction of a law on violence again women.

Pnina Sharvit Baruch is a senior research fellow and the head of the program on law and national security at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). She retired from the Israel Defense Forces in 2009 with the rank of Colonel after twenty years in the International Law Department, heading the Department from 2003. In this capacity she was responsible for advising the government on issues relating to international law. During the years 1993-2006, Pnina served as a legal advisor and senior member of Israel’s delegations to the negotiations with the Palestinians. In 2000, she also participated in the negotiations with Syria as the legal advisor of the security committee. After 2009 Pnina taught courses on public international law and on the legal aspects of the Israel – Arab conflict in the law faculty of the Tel-Aviv University. In recent years she has participated in several track II negotiations with Palestinian counterparts. Pnina is an active member of Forum Dvorah – Women in Foreign Policy and National Security and represents the Forum in NATO’s Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). She is vice president of the international association of Jewish lawyers and jurists (IJL) and a member of the managing board of the Israeli section of the International Women Forum (IWF). She joined the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network to work together towards the wider inclusion of women in negotiations in the region.