The United States will honour 14 women, including barrister Sara Hossain, for their exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, often at great personal risk.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will present the 2016 Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award at the US Department of State on Tuesday, according to media note issued on Monday from the Office of the Spokesperson, Washington, DC.
The Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award annually recognises women around the globe.
Since the inception of this award in 2007, the Department of State has honored nearly 100 women from 60 different countries.
The 2016 awardees are:
• Sara Hossain, Barrister, Supreme Court, Bangladesh
• Debra Baptist-Estrada, Port Commander, Belize Immigration and Nationality, Belize
• Ni Yulan, Human Rights Activist, China
• Latifa Ibn Ziaten, Interfaith Activist, France
• Thelma Aldana, Attorney General, Guatemala
• Nagham Nawzat, Yezidi Activist and Gynecologist, Iraq
• Nisha Ayub, Transgender Rights Advocate, Malaysia
• Fatimata M’baye, Co-founder and President of the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights, Mauritania
• Zhanna Nemtsova, Journalist and Activist, Russia
• Zuzana Števulová, Director of the Human Rights League, Slovakia
• Awadeya Mahmoud, Founder and Chair of the Women’s Food and Tea Sellers’ Cooperative and the Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative for Khartoum State, Sudan
• Vicky Ntetema, Executive Director of Under the Same Sun, Tanzania
• Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit, Bookstore Owner and Co-founder of Creating Awareness for Enhanced Democracy, Thailand
• Nihal Naj Ali Al-Awlaqi, Minister of Legal Affairs, Yemen
