Watson was unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony, but she did take to Twitter to share her joy over receiving the honor. "Thank you @ObserverEthical for awarding me Campaigner of the Year! Honoured," she tweeted. "I want to share this w every @HeForShe out there #ethical awards."
"Special thanks to the brilliant team at UN_Women and to @liviafirth who accepted the award on my behalf. #heforshe #ethicalawards," the actress later added. Watson spoke at the United Nations Headquarters last September to launch the HeForShe campaign, with a video of the 25 year old's speech soon going viral.
In her speech Watson called on men to help support the fight for gender equality. "I want men to take up this mantle," Watson told the audience. "So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too – reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves."
Speaking to the Observer, UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka praised Watson for her commitment to UN Women issues, adding that her involvement, 'multiplies our ability to engage more young people, who are key to advancing gender equality'.
Related story
Dahal receives 'Binaya Kasajoo Outstanding Information Campaign...
