This year's International Women's Day theme is “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.” On this day, we think of the many adolescent girls and other young women we have met in countries torn apart by armed conflict who somehow, against the most staggering odds, are working to create better lives for themselves.

These young women are generally quite clear about what they need to succeed–education, health care, stability and a promise for a brighter future. Betty, a 17-year-old girl who lived in a displaced persons camp in northern Uganda, spoke for many when she said, “A generation without education is doomed. We need assurance, we need to be heard and to participate, we need a future.”

Read the full blog, posted on the Huffington Post, here.