State Department Honors International Women of Courage 2015

Baku.7 March.REPORT.AZ/ State Department Honors International Women of Courage. As the 10 women risked their lives to break barriers and help protect women and girls around the world, Report informs citing foreign media. 

The State Department is honoring the women from all over the world for leadership and courage in advocating for women’s rights in their countries, often risking their personal safety as they fight to protect others. Now in its eighth year, the International Women of Courage Awards bring the women to the U.S. to network and share their stories.

“For them, staying silent simply isn’t an option. For them, turning away from the injustices they see simply isn’t possible,” first lady Michelle Obama said of this year’s honorees. “You see, these women refuse to believe the false comfort that other people’s suffering isn’t their problem, and they refuse to listen to those who tell them that one person can’t possibly make a difference.

This year’s honorees - from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burma, Central African Republic, Guinea, Japan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Syria - were nominated by U.S. embassies in those countries and selected by the State Department to receive the award. Since 2007, the department has honored 86 women from more than 50 countries.

The 2015 award-winners include two journalists, from Bangladesh and Kosovo. Both countries rank as having “partly free Arbana Xharra of Kosovo is the editor-in-chief of daily newspaper Zeri and has reported extensively on religious extremists and the ties of such groups to local imams and non-governmental organizations. Her investigations led to death threats to both her and her family.

Following their meetings with government officials and NGOs, the Women of Courage honorees will travel independently across the country to different cities to meet with Americans and share their stories. They will then gather again as a group for the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women meeting, which takes place in New York March 9-20.