The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially in promoting women's rights.
History The award was established in 2007 by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza RicePerkins, Dan (May 2007). "U.S. Secretary of State Salutes 10 International Women of CourageThe Women Were Nominated by U.S. Embassies for Their Exceptional Courage and Leadership in Advocating for Women's Rights and Advancement" . Diversityinbusiness.com. Retrieved March 9, 2012. on or near the International Women's Day, an annual celebration observed each March 8 in many countries worldwide. Each U.S. embassy has the right to recommend one woman as a candidate. As of 2021, the award has been given to over 155 recipients from about 75 different countries.
Award recipients by year
2007
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari of Israel Jennifer Louise Williams of Zimbabwe Siti Musdah Mulia of Indonesia Ilze Jaunalksne of Latvia Samia al-Amoudi of Saudi Arabia Mariya Ahmed Didi of the Maldives Susana Trimarco de Veron of Argentina Aziza Siddiqui of Afghanistan Sundus Abbas of Iraq Shatha Abdul Razzak Abbousi of Iraq Mary Akrami of Afghanistan Grace Padaca of the Philippines
2008
Suraya Pakzad of Afghanistan Virisila Buadromo of Fiji Eaman al-Gobory of Iraq Valdete Idrizi of Kosovo Begum Jan of Pakistan Nibal Thawabteh of the Palestinian Authority Cynthia Bendlin of Paraguay Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim of Somalia
2009
Mutabar Tadjibayeva of Uzbekistan Ambiga Sreenevasan of Malaysia Wazhma Frogh of Afghanistan Norma Cruz of Guatemala Suaad Allami of Iraq Hadizatou Mani of Niger Veronika Marchenko of Russia Reem Al Numery of Yemen
2010
Shukria Asil of Afghanistan Shafiqa Quraishi of Afghanistan Androula Henriques of Cyprus Sonia Pierre of the Dominican Republic Shadi Sadr of Iran Ann Njogu of Kenya Lee Ae-ran of South Korea Jansila Majeed of Sri Lanka Marie Claude Naddaf of Syria Jestina Mukoko of Zimbabwe
Alice Mabota was given the award but she is not in the official list.
2011
Maria Bashir of Afghanistan Henriette Ekwe Ebongo of Cameroon Guo Jianmei of China Eva Abu Halaweh of Jordan Marisela Morales Ibañez of Mexico Ágnes Osztolykán of Hungary Roza Otunbayeva of the Kyrgyz Republic Ghulam Sughra of Pakistan Yoani Sanchez of Cuba Nasta Palazhanka of Belarus Pionie Boso of the Solomon Islands
2012
Aneesa Ahmed of the MaldivesStaff (March 5, 2012). . Office of Global Women's Issues of the U.S. Department of State. Retrieved March 8, 2012. Zin Mar Aung of Burma Samar Badawi of Saudi Arabia Shad Begum of Pakistan Maryam Durani of Afghanistan Pricilla de Oliveira Azevedo of Brazil Hana Elhebshi of Libya Jineth Bedoya Lima of Colombia Şafak Pavey of Turkey Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih of Sudan Gabi Calleja of Malta
2013
Malalai Bahaduri of Afghanistan"2013 International Women of Courage Award Winners", U.S. Department of State, March 4, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013 Tsering Woeser of China Julieta Castellanos of Honduras Nirbhaya "Fearless" of India Josephine Obiajulu Odumakin of Nigeria Elena Milashina of Russia Fartuun Adan of Somalia Razan Zeitouneh of Syria Tạ Phong Tần of Vietnam
2014
Nasrin Oryakhil of Afghanistan Roshika Deo of Fiji Rusudan Gotsiridze of Georgia Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar of Guatemala Laxmi of India Fatimata Touré of Mali Maha Al Muneef of Saudi Arabia Oinikhol Bobonazarova of Tajikistan Ruslana Lyzhychko of Ukraine Beatrice Mtetwa of Zimbabwe
2015
Niloofar Rahmani of Afghanistan Nadia Sharmeen of Bangladesh Rosa Julieta Montaño Salvatierra of Bolivia May Sabe Phyu of Burma Emilie Béatrice Epaye of the Central African Republic Marie Claire Tchecola of Guinea Sayaka Osakabe of Japan Arbana Xharra of Kosovo Tabassum Adnan of Pakistan Majd Izzat al-Chourbaji of Syria
2016
Sara Hossain of Bangladesh Debra Baptist-Estrada of Belize Ni Yulan of China Latifa Ibn Ziaten of France Thelma Aldana of GuatemalaGuatemala’s Women: Moving Their Country Forward « Central America Network , centralamericanetwork.org Nagham Nawzat of Iraq Nisha Ayub of Malaysia Fatimata M’baye of Mauritania Zhanna Nemtsova of Russia Zuzana Števulová of Slovakia Awadeya Mahmoud of Sudan Vicky Ntetema of Tanzania Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit of Thailand Nihal Naj Ali Al-Awlaqi of Yemen
2017 2017 awards were awarded to:
Sharmin Akter, activist on early/forced marriage, Bangladesh Malebogo Molefhe, human rights activist, Botswana Natalia Ponce de Leon, president of the Natalia Ponce de Leon Foundation, Colombia Rebecca Kabugho, political and social activist, Democratic Republic of Congo Jannat Al Ghezi, deputy director of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq Major Aichatou Ousmane Issaka, deputy director of social work at the Military Hospital of Niamey, Niger Veronica Simogun, founder and director of the Family for Change Association, Papua New Guinea Cindy Arlette Contreras Bautista, lawyer and icon of Not One Woman Less, Peru Sandya Eknelygoda, human rights activist, Sri Lanka Sister Carolin Tahhan Fachakh, nun and member of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (F.M.A.), Syria Saadet Ozkan, educator and gender activist, Turkey Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh (Mother Mushroom), blogger and environmental activist, Vietnam Fadia Najeeb Thabet, human rights activist, Yemen
2018 2018 awards were awarded to: Roya Sadat of Afghanistan Aura Elena Farfan of Guatemala Dr. Julissa Villanueva of Honduras Aliyah Khalaf Saleh of Iraq Sister Maria Elena Berini of Italy (nominated by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See) Aiman Umarova of Kazakhstan Dr. Feride Rushiti of Kosovo L’Malouma Said of Mauritania Godeliève Mukasarasi of Rwanda Sirikan Charoensiri of Thailand
2019
2019 awards were awarded to: Marini De Livera of Sri Lanka Razia Sultana (Bangladesh) Naw K’nyaw Paw (Myanmar) Moumina Houssein Darar (Djibouti) Maggie Gobran (Egypt) Khalida Khalaf Hanna al-Twal (Jordan) Orla Treacy (Republic of Ireland) Olivera Lakić (Montenegro) Flor de María Vega Zapata (Peru) Anna Aloys Henga (Tanzania)
Note: According to Foreign Policy magazine, an intended award for Jessikka Aro (Finland), announced in January 2019, was withdrawn shortly before the ceremony in March 2019.
2020 2020 awards were awarded to: Zarifa Ghafari (Afghanistan) Lucy Kocharyan (Armenia) Shahla Humbatova (Azerbaijan) Ximena Galarza (Bolivia) Claire Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso) Sayragul Sauytbay (China) Susanna Liew (Malaysia) Amaya Coppens (Nicaragua) Jalila Haider (Pakistan) Amina Khoulani (Syria) Yasmin al Qadhi (Yemen) Rita Nyampinga (Zimbabwe)
2021 2021 awards were awarded to: Maria Kalesnikava (Belarus) Phyoe Phyoe Aung (Burma) (sic) Maximilienne C. Ngo Mbe (Cameroon) Wang Yu (China) Mayerlis Angarita (Colombia) Julienne Lusenge (DRC) Erika Aifan (Guatemala) Shohreh Bayat (Iran) Muskan Khatun (Nepal) Zahra Mohamed Ahmad (Somalia) Alicia Vacas Moro (Spain) Ranitha Gnanarajah (Sri Lanka) Canan Gullu (Turkey) Ana Rosario Contreras (Venezuela)
2022
2022 awards were awarded to: Rizwana Hasan (Bangladesh) Simone Sibilio do Nascimento (Brazil) Ei Thinzar Maung (Burma) Josefina Klinger Zúñiga (Colombia) Taif Sami Mohammed (Iraq) Facia Boyenoh Harris (Liberia) Najla Mangoush (Libya) Doina Gherman (Moldova) Bhumika Shrestha (Nepal) Carmen Gheorghe (Romania) Roegchanda Pascoe (South Africa) Phạm Đoan Trang (Vietnam)
2023
The 2023 awards were given to:
Zakira Hekmat (Afghanistan) Alba Rueda (Argentina) Danièle Darlan (Central African Republic) Doris Ríos (Costa Rica) Meaza Mohammed (Ethiopia) Hadeel Abdel Aziz (Jordan) Bakhytzhan Toregozhina (Kazakhstan) Ras Adiba Radzi (Malaysia) Bolor Ganbold (Mongolia) Bianka Zalewska (Poland) Yuliia Paievska (Ukraine)
Additional Honorary Group
Hadeel Abdel Aziz Professor Danièle Darlan Brigadier General Bolor Ganbold Dr. Zakira Hekmat Meaza Mohammed Yuliia Paievska Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi Doris Ríos Alba Rueda Bakhytzhan Toregozhina Bianka Zalewska
An additional Honorary Group Award was given to the "women and girl protestors of Iran" in response to the death of Mahsa Amini and the ongoing protests against the government.
2024
The 2024 awards were given to:2024 International Women of Courage Award State.gov
Benafsha Yaqoobi (Afghanistan) Fawzia Karim Firoze (Bangladesh) Volha Harbunova (Belarus) Ajna Jusić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Myintzu Win (Burma) Marta Beatriz Roque (Cuba) Fátima Corozo (Ecuador) Fatou Baldeh (The Gambia) Fariba Balouch (Iran) Rina Gonoi (Japan) Rabha El Haymar (Morocco) Agather Atuhaire (Uganda)
2025 The 2025 awards were given to:
Henriette Da (Burkina Faso) Amit Soussana (Israel) Major Velena Iga (Papua New Guinea) Angelique Songco (Philippines) Georgiana Pascu (Romania) Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit (South Sudan) Namini Wijedasa (Sri Lanka) Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj (Yemen) Women Student Protest Leaders of Bangladesh in the July Revolution
An additional Honorary Group Award was given to the "Women Student Protest Leaders of Bangladesh" in response to the July Revolution in Bangladesh against the former government.
See also
List of awards honoring women
References
External links
Secretary's International Women of Courage Award 2010 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr p 2011 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr