Asia Society honored the Afghan Girls Robotic Team, as 2018 Game Changer of the Year at the fifth annual Asia Game Changer Awards. In a dazzling ceremony held Tuesday night in lower Manhattan, the Asia Society awarded the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, a group of remarkable young women who overcame tremendous obstacles — and personal tragedy — to thrive in competitions around the world.

Asia Society recognized eight other individuals and groups on Tuesday: Wang Shi, the Chinese real estate developer and great advocate for environmental sustainability; Mira Rai, child soldier turned champion distance runner from Nepal; Munjed Al Muderis, a doctor who fled Iraq only to become a pioneering surgeon in Australia; the founders of Koolulam, a musical initiative buildings bridges through song in Israel; heroes who saved lives during Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster; the incomparably brave and determined White Helmets of Syria; and, in their first-ever appearance on American soil, survivors from this summer’s incredible rescue at Thailand’s Tham Luang caves.

Speaking on behalf of the Afghan girls, Roya Mahboob, founder of the Afghan Citadel software company, said: “We need to cast aside the misconceptions of the past and embrace the potential of Afghan girls and women to succeed.”