Hillary Clinton Award | 02/26/2014
Anders Fogh Rasmussen was appointed Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2009 and served until 2014. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Denmark.
Rasmussen received the award for integrating women, peace and security into NATO’s mandate and operations. He increased female staff in NATO operations and conducted important studies about gender roles in Afghanistan, among other activities.
“The harsh reality is that in many conflict areas today it is it more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier. Women time and again find themselves marginalized in these processes and they don’t get a chance to make their views known,” said Rasmussen at Georgetown.
“But if women don’t play an active part in making peace and keeping peace, then the needs and interests of half of the world’s population are not taken into account,” he added.