Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the African Union, Hanna Tetteh, charts her journey from the legal profession where she defended disadvantaged women to Ghanaian politics, where, as Foreign Minister, she introduced affirmative action into the diplomatic service. She offers robust lessons for would be mediators, describing how she told a negotiator not to lecture her on suffering and making the case for women to take a central role in the search for peace in South Sudan.