On November 6, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the “No Limits” public policy conference where she spoke of her dedication to the promotion of women’s rights around the world. Clinton also honored the work of Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and Vital Voices Co-Founder and former CEO.

Speaking on the efforts of the State Department to support women’s progress around the world, below is an excerpt from her keynote address. Clinton said:

There is nothing that has been more important to me over the course of my lifetime than advancing the rights of women and girls. It’s been a cause of my public life. And it is now a cornerstone of American foreign policy.

We have appointed the first-ever Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. Some of you know Melanne Verveer, who was my chief of staff at the White House, went on to run Vital Voices, which some of you have become involved in, which I am delighted about because everywhere I go in the world, the Vital Voices women come to meet me.

And they wear their little pins, the kind of V’s that look like wings taking flight that give them a better future.

And we want to do more in partnerships like that, so we’re opening up on the State Department website that we will notify everybody about, a way for you to be part of supporting some of these projects and supporting individual women; individual women and their own needs, whether it’s a small microloan or a program to help rape survivors or victims.

Full speech