The United States government says it will honour a group of extraordinary women across the world, including a Cameroonian.

The prestigious awards list did not include any Nigerian woman.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host the annual International Women of Courage Awards’ virtual ceremony to honour the women, including an honorary award for seven women leaders and activists from Afghanistan assassinated for their dedication to improving the lives of Afghans. 

On March 8, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden will deliver a special message at the ceremony.

In the last 15 years, the Department of State has honoured over 155 awardees from more than 75 countries. The nominations are made by U.S. diplomatic missions overseas, and finalists are selected and approved by senior Department officials.

This year, women from Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China were selected for a prestigious award for demonstrating exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for justice, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The awardees include Phyoe Phyoe Aung, an emerging leader from Myanmar, who the U.S. government said was likely to play a role in shaping the country in the coming years. 

She is the co-founder of the Wings Institute for Reconciliation, an organisation that facilitates exchanges between youths of different ethnic and religious groups. 

She organised a 2015 protest march from Mandalay to Yangon that the Myanmar Police Force violently suppressed as it neared Yangon, and she and her husband were arrested and imprisoned. 

Wang Yu, one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers until her arrest and imprisonment following China’s nationwide persecution of lawyers and rights advocates during the 709 crackdown, is also one of the recipients of the award. 

She is now under an exit ban and has been harassed, threatened, searched, and physically assaulted by police since she began to take on rights abuse cases in 2011, the State Department said.

Muskan Khatun from Nepal was selected for being instrumental in bringing about new legislation criminalising acid attacks and imposing strong penalties against perpetrators in Nepal. 

When Ms. Muskan was 15, she was injured in an acid attack after she rejected a boy’s romantic propositions. 

With the help of a social worker, Ms. Muskan lobbied for stronger legal action against the perpetrators of acid attacks under duress of threats and the strong social stigma associated with acid attack victims. 

Within a year of her attack, Nepal’s president issued an ordinance with harsh penalties for acid attacks and regulations on the sale of acids, a testament to her advocacy. 

Sri Lankan lawyer Ranitha Gnanarajah was also selected for the award. 

Ms. Ranitha has dedicated her career to accountability and justice for victims of enforced disappearances and prisoners detained often for years without charge under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act by providing free legal aid and related services. 

Other recipients of the award are Maria Kalesnikava from Belarus, Maximilienne C. Ngo Mbe from Cameron, Mayerlis Angarita from Columbia; Julienne Lusenge from Congo; Judge Erika Aifan from Guatemala; Shohreh Bayat from Iran; Zahra Mohamed Ahmad from Spain, Canan Gullu from Turkey; and Ana Rosario Contreras from Venezuela.

The U.S. government will also present, in addition to the individual awards, an honorary International Women of Courage award to seven Afghan women assassinated in 2020.