The role of the US First Lady, Mrs Hillary Clinton, in encouraging women to take a political role in Northern Ireland was praised here last night by the leader of the Women's Alliance, Ms Monica McWilliams.
Mrs Clinton and the President of Georgia, Mr Eduard Shevardnadze, were presented with the 1999 Averell Harriman Democracy Award at a dinner at the Hilton Hotel. The awards are organised by the National Democratic Institute which works to promote democracy around the world.
Ms McWilliams was taken ill with appendicitis shortly before the event and underwent successful surgery at a Washington hospital. Her speech was read for her by the NDI chairman, Mr Paul Kirk. In it Ms McWilliams told Mrs Clinton that she had supported women when they ran for office in the new Assembly when "we were abused and humiliated by those who believed women had no place in the new political landscape".
Mr Kirk said the institute was honouring Mrs Clinton "for her efforts internationally to bring attention and support to democratic transitions, especially to political participation by women".
Ms McWilliams spoke of the encouragement Mrs Clinton had given to the Families of the Disappeared organisation in Northern Ireland. The women "still speak highly of how when they were so broken with grief that somehow you managed to show them the power of the human spirit.
"This past month one of the women I work with has just buried her son, 20 years after he was murdered. You had met her when she was campaigning for the Families of the Disappeared when no one was paying any attention to the issue. Your involvement played a part in having the body of her son returned."
Mrs Clinton's global Vital Voices Initiative "has provided women with the opportunities and skills that have enabled them to become key decision-makers, peace activists and agents of change. As a result of your conferences in Belfast, Vienna and Montevideo, women have lifted the baton. They have learned how to fight and compete. Now they are ready to govern and lead," Ms McWilliams said.