Washington(CNN) First lady Melania Trump called for women's empowerment and celebration of diversity in rare remarks Wednesday morning at the State Department.
"As leaders of our shared global economy, we must continue to work towards gender empowerment and respect for people from all backgrounds and ethnicities, remembering always that we are all ultimately members of one race, the human race. Each one of us is uniquely different," Trump said, honoring 12 women at the 2017 Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Awards.
The awards honor women across the globe who have overcome injustice -- from domestic violence to environmental disaster to gender bias to acid attacks -- and gone on to transform their societies, often in the face of personal danger.
"We must continue once again to shine a light on the horrendous atrocities taking place around the corner and around the globe," Trump said. "We must continue to fight injustice in all its forms, in whatever scale or shape it takes in our lives. Together, we must declare that the era of allowing brutality against women and children is over, while affirming that the time for empowering women around the world is now. For wherever women are diminished, the entire world is diminished with them."
Wednesday's event was Trump's first formal on-camera speech since her husband took office. She made brief remarks thanking attendees at an inaugural ball and though she gave a speech at the White House on International Women's Day, reporters were escorted out of the room before she spoke. The State Department event comes as she continues to slowly embrace her first lady spotlight.
Trump spoke broadly and did not mention her husband or his administration during her 10-minute remarks, signaling a desire to remain above the partisan fray.
She personally handed out the 12 awards and many recipients became visibly emotional upon being honored.
"Their lives remind us of the boundless capacity of the human spirit when guided by moral clarity and desire to do good," she said of the honorees, encouraging those in the audience to consider what it would be like to experience the adversity they were each able to overcome.
"Ask yourself if you would have the fortitude of spirit, the courage of your convictions, and the enormous inner strength required to stand up and fight against such odds," Trump said.
First lady Melania Trump
First lady Melania Trump accompanies her husband, US President Donald Trump, for a visit to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday, June 6. It was the first time the first lady
was seen in public since undergoing benign kidney surgery in May.
Melania Trump
speaks to the spouses of US governors at a White House luncheon in February. Among the topics she touched on were cyberbullying and the opioid epidemic. She also acknowledged the students around the country who have been fighting the gun lobby since the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Trump arrives for her husband's State of the Union address in January.
Trump speaks at an October ceremony after
donating her inaugural gown to the National Museum of American History. It will be part of the museum's First Ladies Collection.
The Trumps arrive at Paris' Orly Airport in July. They were invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the country's Bastille Day celebrations.
Trump, seated fourth from left, plays with children during a July visit to the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw, Poland. She was joined by Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, who is in the pink jacket. The Trumps
were visiting Poland ahead of a G20 summit in Germany.
The Trumps arrive at the White House with their son, Barron, in June 2017. Melania and Barron
were moving in. They had spent the last few months in New York so Barron could finish out his school year.
Melania Trump arrives at the Vatican, where she and her husband met Pope Francis in May 2017.
With Vatican protocol in mind, she wore a black veil and a long-sleeved black dress draped down to her calf.
The first lady visits a pediatric hospital in Vatican City.
Trump visits the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, while in Jerusalem in May 2017.
A video clip
went viral in May 2017 after the first lady appeared to swat her husband's hand away after landing in Israel. It's unclear what caused the swat, if anything. The Trumps held hands minutes later on the tarmac. They also held hands multiple times during their tour of the Middle East.
The first lady high-fives a child during a visit to the American International School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Melania Trump is joined by her husband as she speaks at a Mother's Day event at the White House.
The first lady takes part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Children's National Health System in Washington. She spoke at the opening of the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden, where patients and families can spend time outdoors while receiving treatment at the hospital.
Trump listens while her husband speaks to the press in the White House Oval Office.
The first lady hugs a child at the annual
White House Easter Egg Roll in April 2017. They were making cards for members of the US military.
The first lady's Twitter account posted this photo of Trump reading a book to children at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. "Honoring children #worldbookday,"
the tweet said in March 2017.
The first lady walks with Sara Netanyahu at the White House in February 2017. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington to strengthen US-Israel relations after some strained years during the Obama administration.
Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, talks with Trump and Netanyahu as they tour the museum in Washington in February 2017.
The first lady shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before boarding Air Force One with her husband in February 2017. The Trumps hosted the Abes at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Trumps arrive at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in February 2017. The Trumps were attending a Super Bowl party at the club.
The Trumps arrive for a Red Cross gala at their Mar-a-Lago estate in February 2017.
The first lady walks across the tarmac to greet well-wishers in West Palm Beach in February 2017.
Trump gives a speech during one of the inaugural balls in Washington in January 2017.
The first lady dances with her husband at an inaugural ball.
The first lady leaves the President's Room of the Senate after her husband was sworn into office.
She called for US and international communities to "remain vigilant against injustice in all its many forms."
During the campaign, Trump said she would seek to champion combating cyberbullying as first lady. More recently, she has identified women's empowerment as a key platform for her East Wing.
Her staff is slowly coming together -- on Monday, it was announced that Stephanie Grisham would serve as her communications director, joining chief of staff Lindsay Reynolds and social secretary Anna Cristina "Rickie" Lloyd.
Trump, who is living in New York with son Barron, 11, was on hand Tuesday evening to host a reception with senators and spouses. She is expected to make her move to Washington at the conclusion of the school year.
Her next major White House event will be the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn next month.
This story has been updated.