Obama Social Network

Today, we didn’t have to skulk around the nets looking for video of First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at the 3rd annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony. Thanks to the industrious webmasters over at the Department of State, we got our video from the source: the government.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted the 3rd annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony with guest speaker First Lady Michelle Obama in the Ben Franklin Room at the State Department….Today, we’re focusing on the International Women of Courage Awards. It’s a fairly new tradition here at the State Department, but it’s already become a cherished institution. For the past three years, our embassies have sent us stories of extraordinary women who work every day, often against great odds to advance the rights of all human beings to fulfill their God-given potential. A portion of Secretary Clinton’s remarks:

“Today, we recognize eight of those women. Each is one of a kind, but together they represent countless women and men who strive daily for justice and opportunity in every country and on every continent, usually without recognition or reward.

And I want to say a special word about someone who could not join us, who we honor today – Reem Al Numery, who was forced to marry her older cousin when she was just 12 years old. She is now fighting to obtain a divorce for herself and end child marriage in Yemen. She was not able to be here, but we honor her strength and we pledge our support to end child marriage everywhere, once and for all. (Applause.)

We also express our solidarity with women whose governments have forbidden them from joining us, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been kept under house arrest in Burma for most of the past two decades, but continues to be a beacon of hope and strength to people around the world. Her example has been especially important to other women in Burma who have been imprisoned for their political beliefs, driven into exile, or subjected to sexual violence by the military.

Our honorees and the hundreds of millions of women they represent not only deserve our respect, they deserve our full support. When we talk about human rights, what I think of are faces like these. What I am committed to is doing everything in my power as Secretary of State to further the work on the ground in countries like those represented here to make changes in peoples’ lives. That doesn’t happen always in the halls of government. It happens day to day in the towns and cities, the villages and countryside where the work of human rights goes on.

We simply cannot solve the global problems confronting us, from a worldwide financial crisis to the risks of climate change to chronic hunger, disease, and poverty that sap the energies and talents of hundreds of millions of people when half the world’s population is left behind. The rights of women – really, of all people – are at the core of these challenges, and human rights will always be central to our foreign policy.”

Normally we would post the remarks of the First Lady, but they haven’t posted those yet at WhiteHouse.gov. You can read Secretary Clinton’s complete remarks at the www.state.gov. HA!

I would like to thank the webmaster for www.state.gov for being able to do that which the folks over at www.whitehouse.gov haven’t quite managed… to provide embeddable video in a timely manner. My profuse thanks for making our lives easier. Our only hope that the folks over at the Department of State will share their secrets with the folks over at the White House.

Posted by Gina

Today, we didn’t have to skulk around the nets looking for video of First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at the 3rd annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony. Thanks to the industrious webmasters over at the Department of State, we got our video from the source: the government.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted the 3rd annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony with guest speaker First Lady Michelle Obama in the Ben Franklin Room at the State Department….Today, we’re focusing on the International Women of Courage Awards. It’s a fairly new tradition here at the State Department, but it’s already become a cherished institution. For the past three years, our embassies have sent us stories of extraordinary women who work every day, often against great odds to advance the rights of all human beings to fulfill their God-given potential. A portion of Secretary Clinton’s remarks:

“Today, we recognize eight of those women. Each is one of a kind, but together they represent countless women and men who strive daily for justice and opportunity in every country and on every continent, usually without recognition or reward.

And I want to say a special word about someone who could not join us, who we honor today – Reem Al Numery, who was forced to marry her older cousin when she was just 12 years old. She is now fighting to obtain a divorce for herself and end child marriage in Yemen. She was not able to be here, but we honor her strength and we pledge our support to end child marriage everywhere, once and for all. (Applause.)

We also express our solidarity with women whose governments have forbidden them from joining us, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been kept under house arrest in Burma for most of the past two decades, but continues to be a beacon of hope and strength to people around the world. Her example has been especially important to other women in Burma who have been imprisoned for their political beliefs, driven into exile, or subjected to sexual violence by the military.

Our honorees and the hundreds of millions of women they represent not only deserve our respect, they deserve our full support. When we talk about human rights, what I think of are faces like these. What I am committed to is doing everything in my power as Secretary of State to further the work on the ground in countries like those represented here to make changes in peoples’ lives. That doesn’t happen always in the halls of government. It happens day to day in the towns and cities, the villages and countryside where the work of human rights goes on.

We simply cannot solve the global problems confronting us, from a worldwide financial crisis to the risks of climate change to chronic hunger, disease, and poverty that sap the energies and talents of hundreds of millions of people when half the world’s population is left behind. The rights of women – really, of all people – are at the core of these challenges, and human rights will always be central to our foreign policy.”

Normally we would post the remarks of the First Lady, but they haven’t posted those yet at WhiteHouse.gov. You can read Secretary Clinton’s complete remarks at the www.state.gov. HA!

I would like to thank the webmaster for www.state.gov for being able to do that which the folks over at www.whitehouse.gov haven’t quite managed… to provide embeddable video in a timely manner. My profuse thanks for making our lives easier. Our only hope that the folks over at the Department of State will share their secrets with the folks over at the White House.

Posted by Gina

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