Happy International Women’s Day 2012!

Happy International Women’s Day, everyone. We have a suite of posts in store to commemorate the occasion. We will kick off the festivities here on UN Dispatch with two items from our friends at the UN Foundation and one excellent list from Women Deliver.

To help set the scene for #IWD2012, I caught up with Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Executive Director, Reproductive Health Initiatives, & Director of Policy Initiatives, Women and Population at United Nations Foundation. We discuss global reproductive health issues and speculate on whether or not the activism spurred by debates here in the USA over access to contraception might be channeled to efforts to boost contraception prevalence in the developing world.  Have a listen:

Next up, we have a new announcement about a partnership between the UN Foundation and ExxonMobile to “to identify the most effective global investments that promote economic opportunities for women…and provide a roadmap for action by identifying various interventions countries can implement in different stages of economic development and for differing types of women’s economic participation.” Check out the promo video

Finally, check out this Women Deliver list of “the 50 most inspiring ideas and solutions that are delivering for girls and women.” It’s an amazing list they’ve put together. Check it out!