Meet Hajer Sharief: The Libyan Woman Who Learned Politics at Age 6 and Briefed the UN at 24

Hajer Sharief (Arabic: هاجر الشريف; born 1994) is a Libyan peace and human rights activist. She was born and raised in Tripoli, Libya, growing up under the Gaddafi regime where civil liberties and freedom of speech were severely restricted. Her political awakening began not in the streets but at her family’s dinner table. Every Friday at 7 p.m., her parents held “family democracy meetings” official gatherings where the entire family discussed current affairs. These meetings had two rules: children could speak openly and freely, even criticizing parents without it being considered disrespectful; and Chatham House rules applied whatever was said in the meeting stayed in the meetings. Topics ranged from what food to eat and bedtime schedules to school events and sibling disputes. Decisions reached would last at least until the next meeting. Hajer recalls being “raised as a politician by age of six or seven” mastering negotiation, compromise and alliance-building. When she was 10 years old, she attempted to boycott the system after a brother exposed her misbehavior at school, but learned the hard way that withdrawal meant losing her voice. At 13, she successfully challenged the gendered division of household labor by proposing that each family member wash their own dishes. a system that lasted for years.

“My parents successfully brought this giant complex process that you usually see on TV between older men in suits… into our house, and made us understand that there was no difference between me, (a child of) five or six years, and that man sitting at the table,” she later reflected.”

Education and the 2011 Revolution

Hajer studied law at the University of Tripoli and Misurata University, Libya. During her time in medical school, she joined an underground organization where meetings had to be kept secret “Whenever we had a meeting for the organisation we would be sitting in the classroom with our books in front of us, so in case anyone walks in we could make it look like a studying session”. The 2011 Libyan revolution changed everything. At age 19, Hajer witnessed the horrific violence of the civil war firsthand. Shocked by what she saw, that same year she co-founded Together We Build It (TWBI) an organization aimed at supporting a peaceful democratic transition in Libya. She co-founded the organization with Rida Al-Tubuly.

Together We Build It: Intergenerational Peacebuilding

Together We Build It (ma’an nabniha in Arabic) is an intergenerational organization working to build peace in Libya through an inclusive approach.

The organization focuses on:

• Women, Peace and Security (WPS): Promoting women’s meaningful inclusion in political and peace processes
• Youth Empowerment: Engaging young people in peacebuilding and conflict prevention
• Human Rights Advocacy: Advancing international human rights law in Libya
• Democratic Transition: Supporting Libya’s path toward sustainable peace

Hajer co-leads the organization alongside managing its various projects. TWBI believes in “fostering an inter-generational approach to formal and non-formal peacebuilding”. The organization launched the campaign “You are missing the full picture” to highlight the international community’s gender-blind approach to Libyan women’s meaningful participation in political and peacebuilding processes.

The Use of 1325 Network In Connecting Women Across Libya

Hajer in 2013,  established the 1325 Network in Libya a network connecting thirty cities across Libya to strengthen civic ties and promote the role of women in peacebuilding. The network is named after UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. As co-leader and project manager of the 1325 Network, Hajer helped organize training, workshops, and activities on how peace and security actions differ for women across Libya. The network brings together civil society organizations to raise grassroots awareness and encourage women and young women to play an active role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Hajer has been deeply personal about her peace activism. Reflecting on the assassination of a friend, she revealed how loss transformed her commitment into a personal mission. She discusses the importance of including women not just at the civil society level but at the political and diplomatic levels in Libya.

UNSCR 2250 and Youth, Peace, and Security

Hajer’s advocacy extended beyond women to champion youth participation in peacebuilding. She joined the United Network of Young Peacebuilders advocacy team to push the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution recognizing the vital role of youth in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Her efforts were successful. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed her to serve as a member of the Advisory Group of Experts for the Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security mandated by UNSCR 2250, the first thematic resolution on youth, peace, and security. She was tasked with drafting a chapter on human rights and young people.

Countering Violent Extremism

Hajer was selected as one of 10 young leaders for the Kofi Annan Foundation’s “Extremely Together” initiative in 2016. The program, begun by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, brings together young innovators from around the world whose mission is to find positive preventive measures against violent extremism among young people. Hajer was tasked with drafting a chapter on human rights and young people for the Extremely Together Guide the world’s first guide by young people for young people on how to counter violent extremism in their communities. The guide was published in March 2017 and has guided the initiative’s work going forward. She has witnessed the evolution of violent extremism in Libya firsthand. Around the time of the revolution, many of her classmates joined armed rebel groups “whether for political reasons or for economic reasons or even for some sort of association or belonging”. She believes that for many young people, extremism becomes “the last resort when they feel they have nowhere else to go”

UN Women Champion and Security Council Briefing

In 2017, UN Women announced Hajer as one of their 12 Champions on Women, Peace and Security and Human Rights. According to UN Women, the selected Champions “will advise UN Women on emerging issues for peace and security, and advocate for gender equality and women’s human rights in conflict-affected settings”. In 2018, Hajier achieved a historic milestone: she briefed the UN Security Council during a session on Libya, becoming the first Libyan woman to brief the Council during a country session on Libya. In her briefing, she advised the UN Security Council and the UN mission to Libya on how they should ensure that women and young people are included in the UN’s formal peace processes. She has also served on the UN Women Executive Director’s Advisory Board and is a member of UN Women’s Gender Innovation Agora a consultative platform for regular dialogue with youth established by UN Women’s Regional Office for Arab States.

TED Talk: How to Use Family Dinner to Teach Politics

In 2019, Hajer delivered a powerful TED Talk titled “How to use family dinner to teach politics” at TEDSummit 2019 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The talk introduced her concept of “Family Democracy Meetings” a system her parents used when she was a child. She argued that parents should teach children about political agency by giving them a say in how their households are run, through weekly meetings where everyone can express opinions, compromise, and negotiate. “Politics is not only activism, it’s awareness. It’s keeping ourselves informed. It’s caring for the facts when it’s possible. It’s casting a vote,” she stated. “Politics is the tool through which we structure ourselves as groups and societies. Politics covers every aspect of life”. The talk was later featured on NPR’s TED Radio Hour in September 2024, where she discussed how the ritual taught her “when to listen, how to find her voice and reach a common goal”.

Major Awards and Recognition

Hajer Sharief’s contributions have earned her numerous prestigious honors:

• Student Peace Prize (2017): Awarded in Norway for her contribution to the inclusion of women in peacebuilding processes
• Nobel Peace Prize Nomination (2019): Nominated alongside Ilwad Elman, a fellow member of Extremely Together; both made the short list of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
• Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women (2020)
• Avanec Media 100 Most Influential African Women (2020)
• Oslo Freedom Forum Speaker

Her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was particularly significant as only twelve Nobel Prize laureates had been Muslims as of 2018, with seven awarded the Peace Prize

Publications and Key Speeches

Hajer has authored several influential publications:

• Keynote address at the Torino Peace Forum (2020)
• Oxford Peace Talks (2019): titled “As a full-time war survivor. What is missing in conflict zones?”
• She has delivered keynote speeches at major forums including the Oxford Peace Talks (2019) titled “As a full-time war survivor.
• What is missing in conflict zones?” the Torino Peace Forum (2020)

Her 2017 speech “What do I do for a living? I’m a full-time war survivor” reflected on her experience as a witness to the 2011 war and encouraged young people to play an active role in peacebuilding

Advocacy Philosophy and Vision

Hajer’s activism is grounded in several core principles:

• On Political Participation: “Politics should be the lifestyle of every single person”, she argued in an interview with Forbes India. “The political systems, especially with the recent wave of polarisation, seem to be focussed on putting one group or community against another. People are pushed into corners where they need to take sides. That’s where one must prioritise moral values”.
• On Women in Peace Processes: “Women are already doing a lot of the work when it comes to local and national mediation [and] in non-formal spaces,” she explained. “The issue is that women are not included in the formal spaces where decision-making but also policymaking is taking place, so we end up with this huge gap between the political decisions and policy decisions, and between what’s happening on the ground”.
• On Youth and Extremism: She believes systematic barriers including age restrictions to voting or taking political office prevent young people from participating in peace processes
• On Libya’s Future: “If you ask me what my vision is for Libya, it’s definitely a long-term vision,” she stated. “It should be comprehensive, it should be inclusive and, being very pragmatic and realistic, this takes a lot of time. But we need to start somewhere”. She concluded emphatically: “This is our right, and we’re not going to stop until we have it”.

Current Role and Impact

Hajer currently serves as a member of the UN Women Executive Director’s Advisory Board and continues her work with Together We Build It and the 1325 Network. She remains a prominent speaker on topics including civil rights, empowerment, female leadership, social activism, and women’s rights. Her journey from a young girl participating in family democracy meetings to becoming the first Libyan woman to brief the UN Security Council and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee exemplifies the transformative power of grassroots activism and intergenerational political education. By centering the voices of women and youth in Libya’s peace process, Hajer Sharief continues to challenge the notion that peacebuilding is the exclusive domain of “older men in suits”, demonstrating instead that sustainable peace requires the full participation of all members of society.