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| Ashley Judd |
Photo credit: Neshan H. Naltchayan
“For
some wonderful and improbable reason, I’ve been given extraordinary
access to vulnerable people who shared with me their stories. The
girls and women
have this remarkable desire to live, to improve their lives, to achieve
their outcomes for themselves and certainly for their families.
And so I
really salute tonight’s recipients because they aren’t just benefactors
of the girls and women I have met … they
are partners with them,” Judd said at The International Center for Research on Women Awards Gala with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on video at The Ritz Carlton.
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| Kathleen Matthews and Ashley Judd |
“And I think that the partnership
is an indication of the dignity and respect and value that they
naturally confer on girls and women, and see them as agents that have
the capacity for self efficacy and to build themselves
up from the grassroots level.”
"When
the ICRW got its start 35 years ago, the challenges facing women
and girls were not very high on anyone’s list of foreign policy
priorities, " Hillary Clinton said via a pre-recorded message. "But, thanks to many of you here tonight, the world is
learning that women and girls are not just an issue to deal with on the
periphery of more serious policy priorities.
They…we…are serious.
They…we…are serious.
The
challenges we face as a nation – whether building stability and
peace around the world, or countering violence or extremism, or
promoting democracy and freedom – depend on the full participation of
women and girls."
