Washington, March 21: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was honoured with the ‘Global Trailblazer’ award at the 2009 Global Leadership Awards, held at the Kennedy Center.

She was chosen for the award in recognition of "her passionate commitment to promoting women''s rights and securing justice for all people around the world."

She received the award from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), a former political opponent during Clinton''s time in the U. S. Senate.

"Vital Voices is all about uniting women and working together for positive change. (Hillary Clinton) has reached out to bring people around this common cause and has used her powerful voice to raise the voices of all women. ... As presidential candidate last year, she made 18 million cracks in the ceiling and inspired women all over the world. As secretary of State, she is putting women''s rights at the top of her agenda," Politico. com quoted Hutchinson as saying.

Hillary in return said: "I want to thank Kay for being such a wonderful colleague and friend. I will do what I can to champion these issues and to use my own voice in support of women who raise their voices."

She further said that governments and leaders "realize that no nation can be successful if it invests only in and listens only to one half of the population."

The ceremony was put on by Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international organization promoting women in leadership.

It saw such notables on stage as Ben Affleck, Sally Fields, Maria Bello, Candice Bergen, Diane von Furstenberg, Nicholas Kristof, and Maggie Grace.

Affleck got a big round of applause when he said: "As along as violence against women—sexual or otherwise—remains strictly and exclusvely a ''women''s issue'' it will always be an issue. We men must own this and we must recognize that it is vital to our own survival and we must help our brothers see it as such." (ANI)