Title: Hillary Clinton Honors International Women’s Rights Leaders at Georgetown

The Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards, celebrated annually in Georgetown’s Gaston Hall, recognizes leaders whose work has made the world more peaceful and stable for women. This year’s recipients are the Hon. Patricia Espinosa, Dr. Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Palwasha Hassan, Dr. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and Guo Jianmei. 

“Each of these five women have shown exceptional courage, creativity, strength, wisdom and of course, leadership,” said Clinton, who is an honorary founding chair of GIWPS. “Let them be a reminder to us to keep up this fight. We have a lot at stake, and we need women leaders from every corner of the globe to continue to stand up, to speak up, and yes, to seek power.”

This year’s awards commemorated the 25th anniversary of the historic 1995 United Nations’ World Conference on Women in Beijing, a turning point for women’s rights in which 189 countries adopted an action plan for gender equality. At the conference, Clinton famously said, “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.” 

The five award recipients all attended the 1995 conference in Beijing. A quarter of a century later, three of the five reunited in Gaston Gall to reflect on their work in the years since to build a more peaceful, stable world for women. 

Speakers at the event, including Clinton, President John J. DeGioia and GIWPS Executive Director Melanne Verveer, underscored the award recipients’ advancement of women’s rights since 1995, and the progress still needed for equality around the world. 

“As we continue to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1995 world conference, we recognize the resounding impact of the words Secretary Clinton offered that day, words that animate our convening today,” President John J. DeGoia said in his opening remarks. “We are honored to present the Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards for Advancing Peace and Security in recognition of the leadership of Secretary Clinton and the contributions of our awardees, who exemplify what it means to serve, protect and empower vulnerable populations.” 

Hillary Clinton

Clinton is a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, and the first woman to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2016. She is also an honorary founding chair of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security.

Patricia Espinosa

Espinosa is the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has worked to address the global challenge of climate change. 

Dr. Marina Pisklakova-Parker

Dr. Pisklakova-Parker established the first domestic violence hotline in Russia and founded a network of crisis centers across Russia called the National Center for the Prevention of Violence (ANNA). 

Palwasha Hassan 

Hassan is a leader in the Afghan women’s movement, a fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security, and directs the Afghan Women’s Educational Center, which advocates for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Dr. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda

Dr. Gumbonzvanda works with women and children in low-resourced communities in Zimbabwe as the African Union Goodwill Ambassador on Ending Child Marriage. 

Guo Jianmei 

Jianmei safeguards women’s rights in China through the pro bono legal aid, despite confronting harassment and risking her own security, and founded The Center for Women’s Law Studies and Legal Services. 

Ava Culoso (C’24)

Culoso is a Georgetown Storyteller who first met Secretary Clinton when she was a young child. After seeing her at Georgetown’s Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards, she said she better understood Clinton’s influence on her own path. 

Nihar Iyengar (SFS’25)

Iyengar volunteered to hand out seating tickets at the event as part of his work with the Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy.