HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2008 AWARDS GALA
Nearly 800 people attended the Gala to celebrate our awardees and honor the resilience of the women in our program.
Over 250 women in the field will now become participants in the program due to the overwhelming support of attendees who signed up to sponsor a woman survivor of war.
Award Recipients:
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Acceptance of the Active Citizen Award - Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and Chairman, Goldman, Sachs & Co. In recognition of 10,000 Women, the firm’s initiative to provide a generation of women in underserved areas around the world with a business and management education.
- Award Recipient of The Woman of the World Award - Honorata Kizende, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In recognition of her courage to speak out on behalf of those who have been silenced by the violence and chaos of war.
Highlights of the Evening:
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Master of Ceremonies, Anderson Cooper of CNN
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Presentation of the Woman of the World Award by Her Excellency Dr. Faida Mitifu, Democratic Republic of the Congo Ambassador to USA
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Honorata Kizende’s Story: Speaking Out Against the Epidemic of Rape in Congo
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Presentation of a 10,000 Women scholarship to Honorata Kizende
Honoring Honorata - A Journey from Rape to Survivor to Advocate
Nearly 800 people attended the Gala to celebrate our awardees and honor the resilience of the women in our program.
Over 250 women in the field will now become participants in the program due to the overwhelming support of attendees who signed up to sponsor a woman survivor of war
Honorata Kizende’s past is marked by incredible hardship, horrific violence, social isolation, and near death destruction. And yet, it is also an account of survival, strength, and testimony to human strength.
At the 2008 Women for Women International awards gala in New York almost 800 guests celebrated Honorata, a Congolese rape survivor and graduate of the organization’s program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She received this year’s Woman of the World Award for her courage and advocacy on behalf of women survivors of war.
“All of us are humbled while we stand in front of you. You have taught us all and you have taught me about courage and resilience. And if Honorata can stand up after going through what she has gone through, who are we not to?” said Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, after handing the award to Honorata.
"We know that when you invest in women, we transform not only the person, but also families, communities and, ultimately, countries. It is that multiplier effect that we believe is fundamental to long term, sustained economic growth," Blankfein told the audience before handing the scholarship to Honorata Kizende. Read Full Story.
Dr. Faida Mitifu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ambassador to the United States (center) with Women for Women founder and CEO Zainab Salbi (left), and Women for Women U.S. Executive Director Rania Atalla.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who hosted the New York gala, here with Dr. Faida Mitifu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ambassador to the United States (center right). Women for Women founder and CEO Zainab Salbi (left), and Women for Women U.S. Executive Director Rania Atalla.
Women for Women Founder and CEO Zainab Salbi with supporter Jane Fonda.
From sexual slave to courageous advocate. Honorata has survived sexual slavery and torture and today is teaching other Congolese women about their rights. For her courage and advocacy on behalf of women survivors of war she was presented with the Woman of the World Award 2008.
Two Congolese women, two stories. Dr. Faida Mitifu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ambassador to the United States, and Honorata Kizende, a rape survivor and advocate. Honorata used to be teacher and mentor of the ambassador. After more than 30 years they had an emotional reunion at the Women for Women gala in New York.
Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO, Lloyd C. Blankfein presented Honorata Kizende, a Congolese rape survivor and advocate, with a 10,000 Women scholarship to attend a six week entrepreneurship course at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Christine Karumba, Women for Women Country Director in the DRC, Honorata Kizende, Zainab Salbi (form left to right) with Lloyd C. Blankfein after the scholarship was announced.
