Political Affairs Officer and Gender Focal Point at the Department of Political & Peacebuilding Affairs at UN Secretariat HQ Laura Bologna speaks on #HerStories of her over 20 years of experience in diplomacy, international relations in the field of peace and security, intergovernmental processes, mediation, elections and gender and her wide network of contacts especially in Africa. She spoke of her time in Sudan in the Office of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel for the Sudan Referenda, and in Nicosia in the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus where she assisted during the negotiations in 2016.

University professor & Co-founder of NGO 'Together We Build It' Rida Al Tubulyspeaks on #HerStories of TWBI, an organization that aims to empower women and young women. Rida is a strong advocate for young women’s full participation in decision making and peacebuilding as well as “intergenerational diversity”. She speaks of her strong will to participate in building peace in Libya, grounded in her personal experience of war for the last 8 years and her success in supporting Libyan women participation in the high level meeting held in November 2018. in Palermo, Italy to support the holding of the Libyan National Conference and national elections in 2019.

Gender focal point & director of programmes at Elcano Royal Institute, Maria Solanas speaks on #HerStories of her political experience as a senior adviser on International Affairs at the Spanish Prime Minister Office responsible for Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. Maria also speaks of her involvement in several negotiations within the governmental framework, as she has actively participated in the preparation of the II National Action Plan on WPS.

VP for International Relations & Assistant Professor at the Arab American University in Palestine, Dalal Iriqat speaks passionately on #HerStories about bringing change into Palestinian society through education, and about improving Palestinian Diplomacy and better branding Palestine. Being a strong believer in the individual role in bringing change and being very passionate about bringing change through education and especially through her background in conflict resolution, mediation and diplomacy, she speaks of the resilience and creativity of the Palestinian women.

Retired Associate Professor from the University of Cyprus, a feminist, a conflict resolution expert & a gender & peace activist Maria Hadjipavlou speaks on #HerStories of conducting trainings in conflict resolution and gender-awareness building especially in conflict situations in several countries.  She speaks of her activist work and especially about the “Gender Advisory Team” which worked exclusively on implementing and integrating UNSC Resolution 1325 in the Cypriot negotiations. She also speaks of being appointed a member of the Technical Committee on Gender Equality advising peace negotiators on gender equality provisions and of the challenges and opportunities this presented.

As an Egyptian diplomat who has served her country for 40 years including as ambassador to several countries, Soad Shalaby is particularly proud of having served for ten years as Member of the Council of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo - http://iihl.org/ - and of the work done there. She also speaks on #HerStories of being a member of the AU Panel of Experts for the Evaluation of the African Standby Force in 2014; a member of the POW team for the Evaluation of the present Kenyan pre Presidential Election; and of having headed the COMESA team for monitoring the parliamentarian election in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

As an Egyptian diplomat who has served her country for 40 years including as ambassador to several countries, Soad Shalaby is particularly proud of having served for ten years as Member of the Council of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo - http://iihl.org/ - and of the work done there. She also speaks on #HerStories of being a member of the AU Panel of Experts for the Evaluation of the African Standby Force in 2014; a member of the POW team for the Evaluation of the present Kenyan pre Presidential Election; and of having headed the COMESA team for monitoring the parliamentarian election in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

Vesna Skare Ozbolt, a lawyer and active member of the political scene in Croatia speaks on #HerStories of her experience as the leading negotiator with the rebel Serbs in the war-affected areas, as the Deputy Special Envoy to the Croatian-Serbian Peace Talks and as a member of the Croatian delegation in the Bosnia and Herzegovina peace process. She spoke of being pregnant during some of these tough times and participating the implementation of a peaceful reintegration of the Eastern part of Croatia, of the local elections and amnesty and of coordinating activities between the UNTAES, Croatian refugees, representatives of international organizations (UNHCR, OESS, IOM, etc.) and rebel Serbs amongst other things.

With ten years’ experience with International Non-Governmental Organisations in Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Darfur, supporting peace and reconciliation processes through humanitarian interventions Anna Cervi, an Italian International Humanitarian Officer speaks passionately on #HerStories about dealing with the immediate basic needs on the ground of IDP’s and refugees, while at the same time having to connect to local, national, regional and international bodies. She also speaks of her hopes to further contribute to playing an active and transformative role on gender equality, peace and security.

Algerian Senator and an active member of several regional networks Hafida Benchehida discusses her dedication to the political participation of women and in peace processes on #HerStories and about the value of mediation and negotiation in her region and how the best bridge towards peace is speaking to people in their language or listening to their stories.