First lady Jill Biden recognized a dozen women fighting for the rights of women and girls in their home countries at a White House ceremony for the International Women of Courage Awards on Monday.

Whether they are fighting to end female genital mutilation in Gambia or to provide legal services for marginalized communities in Burma, the women were honored for their roles promoting gender equity and the rights and empowerment of women and girls.

What You Need To Know

  • 12 women received the International Women of Courage Award at the White House Monday

  • Representing countries from Afghanistan to Uganda, the women were recognized for their roles promoting gender equity and the rights and empowerment of women and girls

  • Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice created the award in 2007

  • More than 190 women from 90 countries have received the award since its founding

“Change never happens on its own,” the first lady said at an event attended by second gentleman, and gender equality advocate, Doug Emhoff. “There is power in the community of women, power when our voices come together to hold each other up.”

The women who received the International Women of Courage Awards represented a variety of countries and causes, including Ajna Jusic, who founded the first organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina to advocate for children born of rape during war, and Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, a Cuban political dissident who received her award in absentia because her home country would not allow her to travel.

“Governments and societies around the world look to silence, to intimidate outspoken women through imprisonment, through harassment, through violence, through death threats, through the repression of their families and their colleagues,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday as he kicked off the 18th annual International Women of Courage Awards. “For these women and so many activists like them around the world, courage is a deliberate and daily choice.”

Blinken said championing women’s rights is a central part of U.S. foreign policy, helping the state department craft policies and programs that support women and girls around the world. He cited President Biden’s request last year to double foreign aid to promote gender equity in foreign countries to $2.6 billion.

He said that countries are less likely to go to war when they have more women in their legislatures, and that adding more women to the workforce could grow the global economy by an estimated $28 trillion.

“Simply put, when women do better, we all do better,” Blinken said.

Handed out during Women’s History Month, in advance of this Friday’s International Women’s Day, Monday’s award recipients join more than 190 women from 90 countries who have received the honor since its founding by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2007.