Wided Bouchamaoui
{{Short description|Tunisian businesswoman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Wided Bouchamaoui
| image = Wided Bouchamaoui Vienna March 2016.jpg
| caption = Wided Bouchamaoui in 2016
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1961}}
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| nationality = Tunisian
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| occupation = Businesswoman
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| parents = Hédi Bouchamaoui
| children =
| relatives = Tarek Bouchamaoui (brother)
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}}
Wided Bouchamaoui, also transcribed Ouided Bouchamaoui, ({{langx|ar|وداد بوشماوي}}; born 1961) is a Tunisian businesswoman who since 2011 has been leader of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). As leader of the organization she took from 2013 part in Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet which led the latter organization to receive the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.{{cite news|last1=Fouche|first1=Gwladys|last2=Amara|first2=Tarek|title=Tunisian mediator group wins Nobel Peace Prize for aiding move to democracy|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-prize-peace-idUSKCN0S30V320151009|accessdate=5 December 2015|work=Reuters|date=October 9, 2015}} The French news magazine Jeune Afrique has identified her as one of the Top 25 Business Women in Africa. In 2014 she won the Oslo Business for Peace Award for her work in UTICA.
Career
Bouchamaoui was born into a wealthy business family. Her grandfather, Ahmed, started a civil engineering company. Her father took over part of the firm and made it into Hédi Bouchamaoui & Sons which specialized in oil, textile and other industry. After having obtained a DESS degree in international trade and marketing, Wided worked for a period in her father's firm before starting her own firm with about 200 employees, specializing in cotton.Frida Dahmani (28 May 2012) [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/28353/economie/tunisie-wided-bouchamaoui-forc-ment-candidate/ Tunisie : Wided Bouchamaoui, forcément candidate] {{in lang|fr}} Jeune Afrique ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151204213730/http://www.jeuneafrique.com/28353/economie/tunisie-wided-bouchamaoui-forc-ment-candidate/ Archive]){{cite news|last1=Capman|first1=Vincent|title=Wided Bouchamaoui, Prix Nobel de la Paix 2015 De l'importance de la voix des femmes|url=http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Les-femmes-tunisiennes-doivent-etre-convaincues-de-leur-role-economique-846489|accessdate=5 December 2015|work=Paris Match|date=15 October 2015}}
Following the Tunisian revolution in 2011, she became leader of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), an employers union. In September 2013 she, as leader of the organization, co-formed the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, whose aim was to secure a transition to democracy. The group included Wided Bouchamaoui as President of UTICA, Houcine Abassi as the Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), Abdessattar ben Moussa as the President of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and Mohamed Fadhel Mahmoud as the president of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.{{cite news|last1=Winch|first1=Jessica|title=Nobel Peace Prize 2015 awarded to Tunisian mediator group|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/11921046/National-Dialogue-Quartet-wins-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize-live.html|accessdate=11 January 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=October 9, 2015}} The group was disestablished in December 2014 after the 2014 Tunisian parliamentary election took place in October.Hoda Saliby (16 October 2015) [http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/nobel-de-la-paix-wided-bouchamaoui-lexperience-tunisienne-est-unique Wided Bouchamaoui : “L’expérience tunisienne est unique”] {{in lang|fr}} Courrier International
The Quartet was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize "for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011".{{cite web | url = http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-2015/announce-2015/ | title = Announcement – The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 | date = 9 October 2015 | access-date = 28 December 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222204725/http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-2015/announce-2015/ | archive-date = 22 December 2015 | url-status=dead | df = dmy-all }} Along with other leaders of the Quartet, Houcine Abassi, Mohammed Fadhel Mafoudh and Abdessatar Ben Moussa, Bouchamaoui traveled to Oslo to collect the Nobel Prize on December 10, 2015.{{cite news|last=Thiesing |first=Dorothee |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2f4ddfdbef2d4bf183512c67735f787c/tunisian-democracy-group-receives-2015-nobel-peace-prize |title=Tunisian democracy group collects 2015 Nobel Peace Prize |publisher=Bigstory.ap.org |date=2015-12-10 |accessdate=2015-12-28}}{{cite news|last1=Thiesing|first1=Dorothee|title=The National Dialogue Quartet, democracy group in Tunisia, collects Nobel Peace Prize|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/12/10/tunisian-democracy-group-receives-2015-nobel-peace-prize|accessdate=11 January 2016|work=U. S. News|date=December 10, 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2015/tndq-photo.html |title=National Dialogue Quartet – Photo Gallery |publisher=Nobelprize.org |date=2015-12-10 |accessdate=2015-12-28}} Bouchamaoui emphasized the collaborative nature of the group's activities, and the importance of encouraging people: "We are here to give hope to young people in Tunisia, that if we believe in our country, we can succeed."{{cite news|last1=Chappell|first1=Bill|title='We Did It Together,' Says Tunisian Co-Winner Of 2015 Nobel Peace Prize|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/09/447110303/2015-nobel-peace-prize-goes-to-tunisian-quartet-of-mediators|accessdate=11 January 2016|work=NPR|date=October 9, 2015}} The committee's decision has been described as "rewarding hope rather than a finished product".
Personal life
Awards
- Nobel Peace Prize 2015{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tunisian-national-dialogue-quartet-wins-the-2015-nobel-peace-prize/2015/10/09/b85871ae-6e1a-11e5-aa5b-f78a98956699_story.html|title=Tunisian group wins Nobel Peace Prize|date=2015-10-09}}
- G8 Deauville Partnership Women in Business Award (2013)Mounia El-Arfaoui (28 August 2013) [http://www.correspondents.org/node/3562 Iron Lady of Tunisia] Correspondents.Org
- Oslo Business for Peace Award (2014){{cite web|title=2014 Honourees|url=http://businessforpeace.no/award/previous-hounorees/2014-honourees/|website=Business for Peace Foundation|accessdate=5 December 2015}}
- Golden Aegis of the Arab Organization of Civil Liberty (2015){{Cite web |url=http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/10/14/wided-bouchamaoui-recoit-legide-dor-de-la-responsabilite-civile/|title= Wided Bouchamaoui reçoit l'Égide d'Or de la responsabilité civile|date=2015-10-14}}
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia (2015){{Cite web |url=http://www.legislation.tn/sites/default/files/fraction-journal-officiel/2015/2015F/009/Tf20150193.pdf|title=Décret présidentiel|date=2015-01-27}}
- Commander of the Legion of Honour of France (2015){{Cite web |url=http://www.webdo.tn/2015/12/08/les-membres-du-quartet-commandeurs-de-la-legion-dhonneur/|title=Les membres du Quartet, commandeurs de la Légion d'Honneur|date=2015-12-08}}
- Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award (2016){{Cite web |url=http://www.wdn.org/news-events-press-center/news/honoring-wided-bouchamaoui-2016-jeane-j-kirkpatrick-award/|title=Honoring Wided Bouchamaoui with the 2016 Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award|date=2016-03-04}}
- Honorary Degree from Paris Dauphine University (2017){{Cite web |url=https://directinfo.webmanagercenter.com/2017/11/15/luniversite-paris-dauphine-remettra-le-titre-de-docteur-honoris-causa-au-quartet-tunisien/|title=L'Université Paris Dauphine remettra le titre de Docteur Honoris Causa au Quartet tunisien|date=2017-11-15}}
- International Award of Excellence "Farmasi" (2018){{Cite web |url=http://www.leaders.com.tn/article/26032-wided-bouchamaoui-laureate-du-prix-international-d-excellence-farmasi|title=Wided Bouchamaoui lauréate du Prix International d’Excellence Farmasi|date=2018-12-01}}
References
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