12 March 2009
U.S. Award Honors, Supports Women Who Fight for Social Justice
Clinton, first lady salute Women of Courage awardees, cite U.S. initiatives
Washington — First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined forces March 11 to congratulate the 2009 winners of the secretary of state’s International Women of Courage awards, celebrate International Women’s Day and announce the Obama administration’s efforts to empower women everywhere.
The International Women of Courage awards, established in 2007 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pay tribute to emerging women leaders and recognize the courage and leadership shown by each in her struggle for social justice and women’s rights.
This year’s awardees are Hadizatou Mani of Niger, Ambiga Sreenevasan of Malaysia, Veronika Marchenko of Russia, Reem Al Numery of Yemen, Suaad Allami of Iraq, Mutabar Tadjibayeva of Uzbekistan, Wazhma Frogh of Afghanistan and Norma Cruz of Guatemala.
“Our honorees and the hundreds of millions of women they represent not only deserve our respect, they deserve our full support,” Clinton said at the awards ceremony at the U.S. Department of State. “What I am committed to is doing everything in my power as secretary of state to further the work on the ground in countries like those represented here to make changes in people’s lives.” Women’s rights and human rights, Clinton said, “will always be central to our foreign policy.”
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION INITIATIVES TO HELP WOMEN
In her remarks at the awards ceremony, first lady Michelle Obama noted the president’s signing of an executive order earlier the same day that called for a White House Council on Women and Girls.
The council’s mission will be to coordinate federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs affect women and families.
The council will be chaired by Valerie Jarrett, assistant to the president and senior White House adviser, and will include as members the heads of Cabinet-level federal agencies. The executive director of the council will be Tina Tchen, deputy assistant to the president and director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House.
“The goal of this council is to ensure that young girls have no limits on their dreams and no obstacles to their achievements,” the first lady said.
The importance the Obama administration places on social justice for women, Clinton said, is further demonstrated by the president’s March 6 announcement of a new foreign policy position focused on global women’s issues and his nomination of Melanne Verveer as ambassador-at-large for international women’s issues.
Verveer is the co-founder and chair of Vital Voices Global Partnership, a nonprofit organization that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe. If approved by the U.S. Senate, Verveer will report directly to the secretary of state.
WOMEN’S ADVOCACY GETS INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION
In remarks at the awards ceremony, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Malaysian Bar Council president, spoke on behalf of all the awardees.
“This award will help to bring to the international stage our voices and our advocacy,” she said. “This occasion gives us an opportunity to reflect on the importance of the rule of law in promoting the rights of women around the world. When the rule of law is upheld, equality is upheld, the cause of justice is upheld and human rights are upheld.”
The award, Ambiga said, “has given us the opportunity which we would not otherwise have had to share our stories, our successes, our failures, to reach out across our borders and to establish a base upon which we can build a meaningful network of support.”
During their weeklong stay in the United States, the awardees (with the exception of Reem Al Numery, who was not able to leave Yemen) met with officials at the State Department, the White House and the U.S. Agency for International Development and with members of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues.
The awardees met also with representatives of a variety of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including those from Vital Voices Global Partnership.
For the second year in a row, the American Women for International Understanding (AWIU), a nonprofit nongovernmental organization, held a banquet for the Women of Courage awardees at the National Press Club in Washington and presented each with a $1,000 grant.
In addition, the awardees had the opportunity to share their stories with members of the American public. A public forum was hosted by Alina Romanowski, deputy assistant secretary of state for professional and cultural exchanges, on March 9 at the State Department.
A transcript of remarks by Clinton and Ambiga Sreenevasan and the full text of the president’s announcement on the White House Council on Women and Girls are available on America.gov.
