What kind of leadership is most effective in societies undergoing upheaval and/or transition?  To address this pivotal question, women leaders from Liberia, Pakistan, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Samoa shared compelling accounts of their innovative leadership approaches in a two-part panel event.

These women, who have just been recognized as the 2012 honorees of the annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards, are leading change in their transitioning societies through civil society, political activities, and private business. Such innovative approaches of leadership and decision making are critically important to a process of non-violent change around the world today.

The panel event also reflects the commitment of the Center for Gender and Peacebuilding at the U.S. Institute of Peace to build the capacity of women leaders in conflict and post-conflict settings. Such strategic goals can be creatively accomplished through the collaboration of civil society organizations and governments. USIP's co-sponsoring partners, Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, exemplify this spirit of women leading change, said Kathleen Kuehnast, director of USIP's Center for Gender and Peacebuilding, in her opening remarks. 

In welcoming the group of honorees, Linda Jamison, acting executive vice president at USIP, described Vital Voices as "an important NGO that catalyzes women to become agents of change in their own countries."

The first panel, made up of women leaders from Pakistan, Liberia and Samoa, emphasized that effective leadership includes bringing innovative ideas and taking bold risks to make change happen in their respective countries. From filmmaking to an NGO focused on rehabilitating girl child soldiers to creating family-based businesses in remote places, each leader illustrated the need for staying grounded at the community level  to make sustainable impact.

The second panel focused on women leading change in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. The panelists stressed the importance of supporting young girls' development and encouraging their leadership in order to prevent violence and create a more peaceful and stable society. They also emphasized the importance of remembering that it takes time to change societies that are coming out of dictatorships, and must be done from the citizens themselves.

The moderator, Kathleen Kuehnast, concluded that the panelists had offered clear examples and lessons learned on how women are leading change in their transitioning societies through non-violent and innovative approaches to engage both men and women in a more peaceful society.