Hillary Clinton Presents Activist Awards

This year's group of 10 International Women of Courage Award recipients included an Afghan woman in local government who advocates for government accountability for women's needs, a Cypriot who created her own anti-human-trafficking network, and a Kenyan woman who was arrested for her efforts against corruption. The award, started in 2007 to honor women who have fought for human rights and women's equality, was presented Wednesday by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "These 10 women have overcome personal adversity, threats, arrest, and assault to dedicate themselves to activism for human rights," said Melanne Verveer, the State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. "From striving to give more voice to politically underrepresented women in Afghanistan to documenting human-rights abuses in Zimbabwe, these heroic individuals have made it their life's work to increase freedom and equality in the world."