Vital Voices Global Partnership (简称VVGP “生命之音全球伙伴”组织）致力于改变女性的社会对与价值 ，帮助新兴女性提升其领导能力，并致力于在全球范围发现、培训并支持崭露头角的妇女领袖和社会企业家。VVGP经过几年的发展，已经成为我们这一时代的一个重要的声音。美国国务卿希拉里2009年5月19日出席VVGP颁奖典礼，并发表以下演讲，阐述其对捍卫女性权利的决心。
对于英语学习爱好者来说，希拉里的每一篇演讲不仅仅是提升演讲能力的佳作，还是超级经典的英语学习材料，每一个词，每一个句子都值得慢慢斟酌、细细“品尝”！现在就开始疯狂学习这篇演讲吧！攻克这篇演讲，你的英语必定让人刮目相看。
In my first trip overseas as Secretary of State, I visited again some of the women in China who had been honored by Vital Voices years ago .They have never stopped working to make their society a better place, and they told me how much this honor meant to them .How it not only buoyed their spirits and gave them encouragement, but also brought them respect and recognition in their own country .When you look at the urgent challenges we face today, we need to redouble our efforts.
在我担任国务卿的首次海外之旅中，我再一次拜访了一些数年前受到'“生命之音”嘉奖的中国女性。她们（自获奖后）从未停下为改善社会而努力的脚步，她们告诉我，这个荣誉对她们而言是多么的重要。这个荣誉不但振奋了她们的精神、给她们以鼓励，还为她们在国内赢得了尊敬与认可。当你们看到我们今天所面临的严峻挑战。（你就知道）我们要加倍努力.......
So I pledge to you that I will do what I can do in this new position, with the strong support of President Obama and the administration, to put women's rights on the agenda as a central part of American foreign policy .I will do what I can to champion these issues and use my own voice in support of women who raise their voices.
因此我向你们承诺，在新的岗位上，在奥巴马总统和我们政府的强有力的支持下，我会竭尽所能将妇女权利作为美国外交政策的核心提上议事日程。我会竭尽全力支持这些事务和声援那些勇于表达自己想法的妇女。
Sometimes I wonder whether speaking out or honoring someone at an event like this can really make a difference. But I have seen what it. I can do have seen it in the faces of those women who know that they're not laboring in vain. I’ve seen it in the networks that have been created to support them .And I've seen it in the changed attitudes of governments and leaders who realize that no nation can be successful if it invests only in, and listens only to, one half of its population .So for all of those women who aren't here tonight, who are enduring unspeakable abuse, who are laboring under unbearable burdens, who are wondering we pledge that we will do all we can to ensure that America is not only an example of the best values that humanity has to offer ,but that we pursue every chance we can to give every women a vital voice on behalf of herself ,her family ,her community and her country .God bless these vital voices .
有时候我怀疑在这样的场合下发言或嘉奖某一个人是否能产生影响。但是我看到了这样做的效果。我从那些知道自己所做之事并非徒劳的女性脸上看到了这一点;我从那些为了支持她们建立的网站上看到了这一点；我从各国政府和领导的态度转变中看到了这一点，他们意识到如今只对国家的一半人口投入人力物力和只倾听一半人口的诉求，那么没有国家会取得成功。对于那些今晚未能列席、那些正承受着难以启齿的虐待、那些工作量严重超负荷或那些对自己和孩子的前途感到茫然的女性们，我们承诺将竭尽全力确保：美国不仅是人类所能提供最佳阶值观的典范，我们还要寻找一切机会，让每一位女性都能够代表她们自己、她们的家庭、她们所在的社区和国家发出她们的生命之音，愿上帝保佑这些生命之音。