She Leads for Peace Summer School Geneva 2026

Background

A condensed version of the Women's Leadership for Peace Programme, the She Leads for Peace Summer School supports young women in understanding the peace and security field and their place in it in order to bring forth the next generation of globally oriented and locally committed women leaders. Through peer-to-peer exchanges and intergenerational dialogues with esteemed guest speakers, participants will delve into best practices in peacebuilding, authentic leadership, personal development, career growth, wellbeing, and resilience.

At the core of our programme is a commitment to self-reflection as the cornerstone of personal development. Understanding oneself is key to impactful leadership. Through guided self-reflection sessions, participants will develop the essential skills to lead for peace and pursue a career that aligns with strengths and values, fostering both professional fulfilment and personal satisfaction.

The She Leads for Peace Summer School is a space where participants can share their experiences with fellow participants and guest speakers to create a community of belonging that will extend beyond the course. The creation of a personal and professional network will provide participants with an invaluable resource that they can tap into for support in realising thier goals and potential as a leader and a peacebuilder.

Learning Objectives

Through the overall objectives of the summer school, participants will be able to:

• Analyse what it means to be a young woman leader for peace;
• Define their own leadership style and situate their passions in the broader peace and security field;
• Develop a personal action plan towards advancing individual leadership objectives;
• Demonstrate a unique insight into the sustaining peace ecosystem and what it takes to achieve a career in this field;
• Build relationships with other participants and guest speakers, which will provide a network of support beyond the summer school.

Content and Structure

The She Leads for Peace Summer School Geneva consists of two weeks of full-day experiential sessions focused on what it means to lead effectively for peace as young women as well as gaining familiarity with International Geneva and the sustaining peace ecosystem. The programme is based on the following three tracks:

Track 1: Effective Leadership: Becoming the Next Generation of Leaders for Peace

The effective leadership component of the She Leads for Peace programme, connects elements of inner development with outer contributions, in both personal as well as professional capacities of participants. This track will be a personal leadership journey for each participant supporting them in their growth as leaders, while being accompanied by their peers and the course facilitators. Participants will revisit what leadership means to them, challenge ideas of gendered leadership, take stock of their strengths and weakness as leaders, and create an action plan for achieving their leadership goals. Such an inner development process will help participants to increase self-awareness and confidence to make concrete steps towards their desired outward contributions in their specific contexts.

Track 2: Experience Sharing: Learning from Trailblazers

A key component of the summer school programme will be interactions with women leaders who have walked similar paths. This intergenerational aspect will be an opportunity for participants to learn from women with real life experience navigating a career in the sustaining peace ecosystem. Through experience sharing with these women in leadership positions, participants will get inspired and gain insights on to the many pathways for entering the sustaining peace ecosystem as well as the obstacles and opportunities they will come across while advancing their career.

Track 3: Tips, Tricks and Navigating Early Career Hurdles

Through meetings with different organizations within International Geneva from the peace, security and humanitarian sectors, participants will be better placed to situate their passions in the broader peace and security field. This coupled with conversations with practitioners from the field, will allow participants to better define and focus their career goals. These sessions will help participants identify and overcome inner and outer obstacles to creating pathways into this space and empower them to pursue the career best suited to their passions and goals.

Methodology

Focused on inner development, the She Leads for Peace Summer School Geneva will be a personal leadership journey for each participant helping them to recognise themselves as leaders in their own right. It is an opportunity for self-realisation and self-actualisation so that participants are better placed and inspired to take steps the next steps in their authentic leadership journey.

Through experiential learning, participants will engage in practical based exercises that support their professional and personal growth. UNITAR will employ various pedagogies to enhance learning and behavioural change, with the aim to challenge participants in a safe environment where they can share lessons learned and strengthen their networks and understanding of the world. Through peer-to-peer learning, experience sharing, and activities participants will gain practical skills as well as have the opportunity to reflect on and develop their own leadership style.