Every day, millions of women around the world face gender discrimination.

Today, we celebrate International Women's Day to ensure women and girls everywhere get the sexual and reproductive health care and education they deserve.

For 50 years, Planned Parenthood Global has addressed the need for high-quality sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world. Along with courageous local leaders across Africa and Latin America, Planned Parenthood Global has worked to advance and sustain sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Unequal access to education and jobs limits women and girls' futures in Africa and Latin America. And this systemic injustice affects when and how they start a family, whether or not they can access abortion, and the quality of medical care provided during pregnancy and childbirth.

We must do better. We owe it to our daughters, sisters, mothers, and ourselves. Learn more about Planned Parenthood Global's initiatives in Africa and Latin America here.

Relentless attacks on abortion access in the U.S. and around the world are not new issues. For decades, Planned Parenthood has created resources for the betterment of women and children throughout the world. That work has always relied on partnerships with the communities we serve, and the support and generosity of people like you.

The abortion access crisis is not specific to any country or gender. It affects all of us. And when the rights of women somewhere are stripped away, it is an affront to women everywhere.

But that also means that a victory for abortion rights somewhere is a victory for people and families everywhere.

Just last month, Colombia became the latest Latin American country to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks, a major win for abortion activists in Latin America.

When our work began, decriminalizing abortion in Latin America seemed like a stretch, and now Colombia is the third country to join the growing list of Latin American nations loosening abortion restrictions within the last two years.

We are also seeing tremendous progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where our partners and youth advocates lead campaigns to demand young people have access to sexual and reproductive health services in Burkina Faso and Uganda.

There's so much more work to be done — and we don't want to lose any of the momentum fueling our progress. That's why it's important to support the work of Planned Parenthood Global starting right now. Learn more about our efforts to increase global abortion access and more on International Women's Day.

On International Women's Day, we thank you for supporting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of hundreds of millions of women and girls throughout the world.

In solidarity,
Dawn Laguens
Interim Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Global