By Isabella H. de Carvalho
Studies have shown that peace agreements reached with the active participation of women have a better chance of being sustainable and effective. There are many reasons that play a part in this simple but crucial equation, and highlighting its significance in an increasingly fragmented world, the prestigious “Woman of the Decade Award” has gone to a woman who has made the promotion of women in diplomacy and peace processes the cornerstone of her work.
She is Guila Clara Kessous, a UNESCO Artist for Peace, social entrepreneur and executive coach, who received the Award from the Women Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday, Oct 30.
The prize-giving ceremony, in the southern Italian city of Palermo, saw the participation of several guests of honour such as Ouided Bouchamaoui, 2015 Nobel Peace Prize winner from Tunisia, and Hindi Kabawat, Syrian Minister of Social Affairs and Labour.
One of Kessous’ latest initiatives was to propose a resolution, on Sep 10, during the United Nations Geneva Peace Talks, calling for the implementation of quotas to ensure women are involved in peace negotiations. In an interview with Vatican News, she speaks about what women can bring to the negotiating table and the importance of a diplomacy that doesn’t just focus on political calculations.
Women need to be at the center of peace decisions
The data on peace processes “blows your mind”, she says, highlighting how, since 1992, only 6% of signatories of peace agreements have been women. “Women are being pushed away from any type of decisions when it comes to peace-making, while they are the first victims of conflicts”.
Thus, for her, proposing a resolution that would require 30% of peace negotiation delegations to be composed of women is a “call for justice”. “When a woman is involved in peace processes, agreements are 35% more likely to last,” she explains. And “As women make up half the world’s population, it is right that they be represented at the negotiation table where the world’s health is being decided.”
Kessous says she received positive feedback at the Geneva Peace Talks for her resolution and hopes that it will be officially presented at the 61st session of the Council of Human Rights, which will be held between February and April 2026.
The resolution, she adds, doesn’t concern only quotas for peace negotiation delegations but also offers other practical proposals to help women be more involved in peace-building. It suggests, for example, monitoring mechanisms to evaluate the impact of involving women in peace discussions or offering training programs for women on how to negotiate effectively and actively.
For Kessous, this is of utmost importance as she sees that many women working in government positions are like “green plants”, meaning “they are there, but they are not really participating. They are transmitting laws that have been decided without them.”
Putting the value of life above everything
Kessous explains that in her experience, women think about the value of life and relationships differently than men and thus think through negotiations with another perspective. “A woman will be more conscious when a war is taking place about having her brother, her husband, her son, being sent to the conflict and perhaps not coming back,” she said.
“What we see in conflicts today is that it’s always a question of egos, of ‘I need to prove that I am right’”, of “victory over another country” or forcing others to adopt another point of view, Kessous says.
“The value of life is so much more powerful than egos or victory. That’s why the way to negotiate from a feminine point of view is not the same as the way to negotiate from a masculine point of view.”
“At the end of the day, we are all interdependent in this global world. If there is no respect for “the other”, there will be a feeling of distrust. There will be a feeling of humiliation, a need for revenge,” she continued, insisting that building peace is an active process, not passive.
“For both sides, there is this notion of togetherness and interdependency that needs to be looked into. I’m really hoping that a feminine voice can really make the difference when it comes to negotiation.”
A diplomacy that is all-encompassing
Kessous says she was very moved to have received the “Women of the Decade Award” from the WEF. She explains that she had the chance to speak about how diplomacy is not only reserved for political elites, but can be expressed in many forms, which she described as “diplomatic entrepreneurship”.
“The idea is to create a frame of diplomatic entrepreneurship, whether it’s sport diplomacy, art diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, feminist diplomacy, or even business diplomacy,” she continued.
“I’m coming from the civil world and I have my word to say about making peace,” she notes, adding that “We are all responsible for every child that dies from a conflict.”
In fact, as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, a lot of Kessous’ work focuses on using art to promote peace. During the award ceremony in Palermo, she wore “The Peace Dress” created by Valentino in 1991 during the Gulf War as a universal desire for peace.
“Fashion has the responsibility of transmitting ideas of pacifism to younger generations,” she notes, while highlighting how art diplomacy can bring together “two people from different countries, who are supposed to be enemies, through the universal language of art.”
“It’s a universal language that transcends the simple idea of ‘I hate you’, but rather says ‘I can be in touch with you and we can create something together’.” – Vatican News
