It is our pleasure to announce that Ouided Bouchamaoui has joined the Business for Peace Award Committee. Ms. Bouchamaoui is the President of The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). In this role, Ms. Bouchamaoui has been working tirelessly to help Tunisia pull through its challenges by pushing for national reconciliation, protecting both enterprises and employment policy, and assisting the urgent need to restore security. For this work, Ms. Bouchamaoui was made a Business for Peace Honouree in 2014. In addition, UTICA is one of the four organisations that make up the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.
The Oslo Business for Peace Award Committee works independently of the Foundation when assessing nominated candidates, and the decision of the committee members is final. Its members are Nobel prize winners in Peace or Economics, which ensures that the selection of Honourees is ethically credible, made by individuals outside the business community and of the highest possible moral and professional authority. The task of inviting new members to the Award committee is made by an Election Committee consisting of former Swedish prime minister Göran Persson, former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Kristian Berg Harpviken.
The work Ms. Bouchamaoui has done to foster stability and peace in Tunisia is admirable, and offers a stellar example of businessworthy leadership. We would like to thank Ms. Bouchamaoui for agreeing to strengthen our Award Committee, and it is our honour to formally announce her election to this role.