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From left to right, top row: Amanda Morton, Q. Smith, Michele Norris, Zain Verjee, Marry Yerrick, Carly Fiorina, Melanne Verveer, Gloria Reuben, Dina Haba Powell, Wolf Blitzer, and Alyse Nelson Bloom. Bottom row: Laura Alonso, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Charm Tong, First Lady Laura Bush, Mariane Peral, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi and Kakenya Ntaiya. (Photo by Sharon Farmer) |
MEET THE AWARDEES |
KAKENYA NTAIYA:KENYA
2008 RISING VOICES AWARD
 Negotiating her way out of
circumcision as a young girl, this south Kenyan native did what no woman in her community had ever done before: leave her local Massai village to study in the U.S. Now, years later, Ntaiya continues her efforts in girls’ education, traveling the world as a passionate advocate leading the fight against child marriage and genital mutilation.
MARIANE PEARL:FRANCE
FERN HOLLAND AWARD
 After suffering through the painful murder of her husband by terrorists in Pakistan, Pearl, through her work as a well-respected journalist, tells the stories of women and children living in communities troubled by poverty and conflict. In her books A Mighty Heart and In Search of Hope: The Global Diaries of Mariane Pearl, she commemorates these women who work in such demanding circumstances fighting for their peace and reconciliation. |
LAURA ALONSO:ARGENTINA
2008 PARTICIPATION AWARD
 Inspired by her childhood experiences living under the repressive military government that ruled Argentina for nearly eight years, Alonso now leads the fight against government corruption through her leadership as executive director in one of the top government watchdog organizations in her country, Poder
Ciudadano (Citizen Power).
THE WOMEN OF BURMA:
2008 HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
Khin Ohmar:After fleeing her home country of Burma along with thousands of others suppressed by the military due to participation in peaceful pro-democracy rallies, Ohmar made her way from the refugee camps of Thailand to the United States where she started anew as a democracy advocate in exile. Now based in Mae Sot on the border between Thailand and Burma, Ohmar serves as chairwoman of the Network for Democracy and Development (Burma), and is vice-chair of the Burmese Women’s Union.
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SHEIKHA LUBNA AL QASIMI:UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
GLOBAL TRAILBLAZER AWARD
 The first female to hold a cabinet position in the history of the UAE and the first woman minister of economy and planning in the Middle East, this successful businesswoman and information technology professional has led financial markets and monetary and investment policies for the UAE economy
 Charm Tong: has traveled the world shedding light on the brutal human rights abuses in Burma. In 1999 she testified before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, where leaders of the Burmese military regime where present. Tong has continued her fight co-founding SWAN, the Shan Women’s Action Network, and in 2002 released the much talked about report “License to Rape” which detailed the use of rape by the military to suppress women and girls in Burma. |
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