Malaysia Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan, an ethnic Indian, has been honoured by the United States for women's and human rights advocacy.Sreenevasan's courage and leadership garnered her the prestigious Secretary of State's International Women of Courage 2009 award in conjunction with the International Women's Day, local dailies reported on Friday."This award has given us the opportunity, which we would not otherwise have had, to share our stories, our successes, our failures, to reach out across our borders and establish a base upon which we can build a meaningful network of support," she said in her acceptance speech at a function in Washington."These stories must be told in all our countries," Sreenevasan said.

Sreenevasan, one of the eight women from around the world honoured for women's and human rights advocacy in their homeland, was also given the honour of representing the others in a speech before US First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Clinton, in her speech, lauded her for pursuing judicial reform and good governance, standing up for religious tolerance and resolutely advocating women's equality and their full political participation.The others honoured at the ceremony were from Iraq, Niger Russia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Guatemala and Afghanistan.