Virisila Buadromo was awarded the the United States Government's most prestigious awards for courage the Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award for 2008.

ACTIVIST Virisila Buadromo was the only recipient of the award from the East Asia and Pacific region.

Virisila received the award at a lavish ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC yesterday from no other than US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a special ceremony .

Later in the day, Ms Buadromo was saluted in a White House ceremony, hosted by President George Bush, in honour of International Women's Day.

The award notes that Ms Buadromo had continued to advocate for gender equality, legal and political reform, and democracy despite the challenges and threats resulting from Fiji's 2006 military coup.

The Unites States uses awards such as these to demonstrate its foreign policy position on troubled spots across the globe. This comes on the heels of the public statements by US Embassy personnel condemning the deportation of Russel Hunter.

Bravo Virisila Buadromo.