The White House celebrated women on Wednesday.

President Obama signed an executive order creating a White House Council on Women and Girls, to help eliminate the challenges faced by women and girls and to ensure that cabinet level agencies coordinate their policies and programs that affect women and families.

A few hours later, the first lady, Michelle Obama, joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to present the Secretary of State’s Award for International Women of Courage. The honorees included women representing Afghanistan, Guatemala, Iraq, Malaysia, Niger, Russia, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

The president, who selected Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser, to chair the new council, said the work of ensuring full equality for women was far from done.

“I sign this order not just as a President, but as a son, a grandson, a husband, and a father, because growing up, I saw my mother put herself through school and follow her passion for helping others,’’ Mr. Obama said. “But I also saw how she struggled to raise me and my sister on her own, worrying about how she’d pay the bills and educate herself and provide for us.”

Alex Brandon/Associated Press Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama at the International Women of Courage award ceremony.Mr. Obama described how his grandmother hit a glass ceiling at the bank where she worked and how his wife, Michelle, struggled to balance family and career. He said that women still earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make and that one in four experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. And while women make up 49 percent of the workforce, they account for only 3 percent of the Fortune 500 chief executives, he said.

“When these inequalities stubbornly persist in this country, in this century, then I think we need to ask ourselves some hard questions,’’ Mr. Obama said. “I think we need to take a hard look at where we’re falling short, and who we’re leaving out, and what that means for the prosperity and the vitality of our nation.’’

The first lady echoed those concerns during her remarks at the State Department.

“The president and I share the belief that communities are only as strong as the health of their women,’’ she said. “Every day, we see what happens to families, communities and countries when women don’t have access to health and medical care; when they don’t have the resources to properly care for their children; when they are oppressed and struggling with emotional, physical, sexual and psychological abuse; when they have no access to education or fair treatment in the justice system.’’

Mrs. Obama praised the women who were honored at the State Department for fighting discrimination and inequality. “I am so very proud to be here today to celebrate these brave women who have fought for themselves and, in the process, made the way so much easier for other women and girls,’’ she said.

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