Geneva Peace Week is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar and we were honoured to be invited to deliver our flagship storytelling workshop for women working on the frontlines of global peace and security. We were also delighted to collaborate with our partner at the Geneva Peace Building Platform, Dr Claudia Seymour.

The workshop complemented the Geneva Peace Week 2020 theme of “galvinising leadership, building trust and contributing to transforming international cooperation in the wake of Covid-19”. Now, more than ever, women in peace across the globe need to enhance their leadership profiles so that they can assert their authority, credibility and impact when sitting at negotiating tables whether in conflict resolution, peace-making or peace-building.

In the context of its contribution to peacebuilding, the workshop addressed a vital area that remains so sensitive in this 20th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325: The number of women in the peace sector still does not reflect the ambitious goals of the resolution.

Indeed, if there was one powerful message that delegates took away from the workshop room it was awareness that they do have the power to increase their authority in the sector by enhancing their communication repertoires, learning to advocate for their careers more effectively and asserting their voices with greater confidence and presence.

It was our great pleasure to meet such inspiring women, to hear their shared stories from the frontlines and, above all, to offer practical strategies to increase their impact as leaders, or leaders in waiting, in the peace sector.