President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was handed an award for political leadership today at a global forum which brought together more than 250 female political leaders from across the globe. 

The president was presented the Women Political Leader 2017 award at a Women Political Leaders Global Forum in Iceland.

She dedicated the award to the people of Malta and Gozo as well as to women "who are not in the spotlight, who are not given visibility in the media, and who are sacrificing their lives, in communities and conflict-stricken countries."

"These women are leaders too, in their own right," she added. 

Among previous awardees are former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clarke, former Kosovo president Atifete Jahjaga and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. 

The high-level global summit was jointly organised with the Council of Women World Leaders, which was set up by former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. 

Ms Finnbogadóttir, who was the world's first democratically elected woman president, was honoured at the start of the awards ceremony.