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State Department honors eight recipients at 19th International Women of Courage awards; hostage survivor calls for immediate action
Summary
The U.S. Department of State held the 19th International Women of Courage Awards, honoring eight women from around the world; awardee Amit Susanna, a survivor of captivity, urged urgent action to free hostages during her remarks.
The U.S. Department of State on Feb. 20, 2025, honored eight women with the 19th annual International Women of Courage Awards in the Benjamin Franklin Room, spotlighting human-rights defenders, journalists and conservationists whose work the department said advances protection and participation for women and girls worldwide.
Kat Fotovat, senior bureau official for the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues, opened the ceremony and said the award, “established by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,” recognizes women who have acted “often at great personal risk or sacrifice.” Fotovat told the audience the awards reflect U.S. support for the rights and empowerment of women and girls and introduced the stories of the eight honorees.
Nut graf: The ceremony combined brief biographies and in-person remarks from awardees, a keynote appearance by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and a speech by First Lady Melania Trump. The most urgent moment came when Amit Susanna, an award recipient and survivor of…
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