ATTENTION: EDITORS
On International Women’s Day, the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is proud to honor Cynthia Gabriel, founder of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), as its nominee for the 2022 International Women of Courage Award. The U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award honors women who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in acting to improve the lives of others.
Cynthia is a key human rights advocate and anti-corruption leader who has shed light on multiple corruption scandals. She has spent her professional life advancing and promoting human rights, good governance, rule of law, anti-corruption and democratic freedoms by combining her scientific and legal knowledge in her advocacy work. Cynthia founded the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) to promote good governance and combat corruption.
The United States prioritizes fighting corruption. In December 2021, President Biden launched the first U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, which lays out a comprehensive approach to work within the United States and internationally, with governmental and non-governmental partners, to prevent, limit, and respond to corruption and related crimes. The strategy places special emphasis on the transnational dimensions of the challenges posed by corruption, including by recognizing the ways in which corrupt actors have used the U.S. financial system and other rule-of-law based systems to launder ill-gotten gains.
The International Women of Courage Award is an initiative to bring international attention and support to women who have worked tirelessly to improve their communities and inspire fellow citizens. Every year, U.S. diplomatic missions nominate a woman of courage from their respective host countries and finalists are selected and approved by senior U.S. Department of State officials. Past winners and nominees of the Award in Malaysia include Ambiga Sreenivasan, Susanna Liew, Nisha Ayub, Indira Ghandi, and Qyira Yusri.
Learn more about IWOC at https://eca.state.gov/iwoc/.
Learn more about C4 at https://c4center.org/
Learn more about the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/United-States-Strategy-on-Countering-Corruption.pdf