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On March 8, we will observe the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day – a day that celebrates the political, economic, and social contributions women have made to the world. This is an important day for the United Nations Foundation because improving women’s health is one of our main priorities. This day brings the issues facing women and girls around the world to center stage and gives us the opportunity to develop partnerships and innovative solutions to help the UN address these issues.

I recently watched the documentary “Babies”. It’s an enthralling, wordless journey of the first year of four babies’ lives. One in Mongolia, one in Tokyo, one in San Francisco and one in Namibia in the Kalahari desert.

This week has been a week full of celebrations — from milestones to birthday’s. We started the week off with Leap Year, celebrated a milestone on Wednesday when the World Health Organization officially removed India from the polio endemic list, and ended the week with the birthday celebration for the VP of Public Affairs, Aaron Sherinian. As the week wraps up, we can look back at our daily photos of the day and realize that all in all, it was a week worth leaping in excitement for!

Today, polio is one step closer to being a page in our children’s history books. The World Health Organization has officially removed India from the polio endemic list, leaving only Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. On January 13, we marked the one-year anniversary of no new cases of polio in India. This is major milestone for the country, which had the highest number of polio cases in 2009.

2012 is a leap year. This means we have an “extra” day to support the work of the United Nations to create a better world. Day after day, UN agencies leap into action, playing a key role in solving the most challenging global problems. Check out the great work the UN does every single day to create a safer, healthier, and more peaceful world for everyone!Tell us what you’re doing today to support the UN.

We all have a lot of things going on these days so it is easy to miss some of the best reads of the week. Global Connections will be blogging about the top articles of the week each Wednesday in our “What We’re Reading” blog post, so subscribe to our blogs, and check back often for updates! Did we miss your favorite article? Tell us in the comments below and we will add it.

Yesterday I went up to New York to film Kumbukani – or Kumba, as her friends call her – a Girl Guide from Malawi who came to attend the Commission on the Status of Women.

When I saw her she appeared…well, ordinary.

As we lead up to International Women’s Day in early March, I’m reminded of the remarkable women I recently spent time with in Honduras working to reduce childhood mortality. From Dr. Gina Watson, the Representative of PAHO/WHO in Honduras, to Dr. Ida Molina, Manager of the National Vaccines Program at the Honduran Ministry of Health, these women are leading efforts to ensure that every child in Honduras is vaccinated and gets a shot at a healthy life.

Two years after the January 12, 2010 earthquake, I found a sense of optimism on my visit to Haiti. While many pre- and post-earthquake challenges remain for Haitians, I noticed several encouraging achievements that have happened since the last time I was there in June of 2010. In addition to progress already made, I found a sense that the best is yet to come.