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Hillary Clinton presented Reema Nanavaty with the award at Georgetown University in Washington. The honour recognises her leadership in strengthening women's livelihoods, food security and renewable energy access.
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Washington,Oct 16, 2026 00:54 IST
Indian social worker Reema Nanavaty was honoured on Thursday with the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award, which recognises leaders working for peace and security, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Nanavaty, director of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India, received the award from former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security in Washington.
Under Nanavaty's leadership, SEWA has grown to become India's largest union of informal sector workers. Her work focuses on empowering women economically by building women-owned enterprises and women-led supply chains in energy, agriculture, food processing, waste recycling and textiles.
Nanavaty led efforts to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of rural women affected by earthquakes. She also led rehabilitation programmes in crisis-hit Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, PTI reported.
She initiated SEWA's food security programme, which covers one million households, and leads the 'Hariyali' Green Energy and Livelihoods Initiative, which provides women with access to renewable energy.
The Government of India honoured Nanavaty with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2013.
The other recipients of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for 2026 are fashion designer and Tory Burch Foundation founder Tory Burch, and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and former chief adviser to the Bangladesh government.
Past recipients include Venezuelan political prisoners, student protest leaders from Bangladesh, former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and former British foreign secretary William Hague.
The awards are presented by Clinton and Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security for exceptional leadership in advancing women's rights and creating a more peaceful and secure world. Nanavaty was recognised for her work to strengthen women's livelihoods, food security and access to renewable energy.
With PTI Inputs
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