April 1 (UPI) — First lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday honored eight women from around the world, including one held hostage by Hamas, who have “demonstrated exceptional courage, strength and leadership,” in the face of “great personal risk and sacrifice.”
The 19th annual International Women of Courage Awards were presented at the State Department after the first lady honored the recipients for their “courage” and “passion.”
“Today we celebrate courage, a strength that is based in love. This truth is illustrated through our honorees who proved that love can inspire extraordinary valor even in the face of vulnerability,” said Trump. “This is especially evident in places where their passion defies convention and what has been shown at great personal risk of stigma, persecution or harm.”
The eight women, who received the awards, included Henriette Da of Burkina Faso, an expert in human rights, women’s rights and development; Major Velena Iga of Papua New Guinea, who has fought for more than a decade to combat violence against women; and Amit Soussana of Israel, who was held hostage following the Oct. 7th, 2023, attack in Israel.
“I am a survivor. On Oct. 7, my world changed forever. I was taken hostage by Hamas and held captive for 55 days,” said Soussana, who has raised awareness about the trauma the hostages have suffered as she advocates for their release. “Fifty-five days of fear, of pain and of being stripped of every freedom I once took for granted.
“Courage to me means standing up for what you believe in, even when the odds are against you. It means staying true to your values, choosing hope when despair threatens to take over and choosing love when confronted with hate,” Soussana said, while admitting that receiving the courage award was “somewhat painful.”
“While I am here, my friends remain in the darkness, 543 long days and nights. They are still suffering,” Soussana added in reference to the hostages who remain in captivity. “We cannot move forward until they are free.”
Other recipients of Tuesday’s Women of Courage awards included Angelique Songco of the Philippines, who protects the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park from illegal fishing and poaching; Georgiana Pascu of Romania, who has dedicated herself to promoting human rights for institutionalized children and adults with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities; and Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit of South Sudan, who has served more than a decade in post-conflict and resource-poor areas of Africa.
Namini Wijedasa of Sri Lanka, an award-winning journalist who has spent her career chronicling the human toll of Sri Lanka’s civil conflict while holding those in charge accountable, and Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj of Yemen, the founder of the Abductees’ Mothers Association, also received awards Tuesday.
In addition to honoring individuals, the Women of Courage Awards honored a group of women for their student protest movement against violent repression in Bangladesh last summer.
“They demonstrated extraordinary bravery, including standing between security forces and male protesters in spite of threats and violence,” according to the State Department as it awarded the Madeleine Albright Honorary Group Award. “The bravery and selflessness of these women amid uncertainty was the very definition of courage.”
