Concern award for Hillary Clinton

Concern Worldwide, Ireland’s largest international humanitarian organisation, today awarded US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with its inaugural Fr Aengus Finucane Award for Services to Humanity.

The CEO of Concern, Tom Arnold, presented Ms Clinton with the award in front of an invited audience, which included members of Fr. Finucane’s family, at a special presentation in The Helix, Dublin.

Fr Finucane worked with Concern from its earliest days in Biafra in 1968 and served as Chief Executive from 1981 until his retirement in 1997. He was Honorary President of Concern US from 1997 until his passing in October 2009 and contributed immensely to building the Concern organisation in the US.

In presenting the award to Secretary of State Clinton, Concern CEO Tom Arnold said: “Concern wanted to find an appropriate way to honour the life and work of Fr Aengus, taking into account the wishes of his family. We decided to institute the Fr. Aengus Finucane Award for Services to Humanity and we’re delighted that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed to accept the Inaugural Award.

“The reason Concern want to recognise Secretary of State Clinton with this award is because she has put development at the heart of US foreign policy. In particular, she has put a huge focus on policies to improve nutrition for pregnant women and children. Her leadership on this issue has inspired other political leaders to introduce policies which will improve the lives of tens of millions of women and children. The US and Irish governments have worked closely together to promote this noble cause.”

“The whole purpose of Fr Aengus’s life was to improve the lives of others,” Mr Arnold added. “He had a passionate commitment to the education of girls, seeing this as the foundation for the future well- being of families and the wider society. It is therefore entirely fitting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the Inaugural recipient of the Fr Aengus Finucane Award for Services to Humanity.”

Ms Clinton spoke inspiring words and concentrated on human rights, stressing the importance of treating women and girls with equal dignity with men and boys.