Stories about Afghanistan are often told in large set pieces about war, violence and regional history. And, in fact, those stories are critical to understanding the region, the country and the life that people live. But I am attracted to the small stories, the details that can easily be missed....

I'm on an email list where, at each year end, we exchange lists of books we recommend to each other. This year, I decided to focus on books about Afghanistan, frankly because so many people ask me how to best learn about the country. This is in no way a...

U.S. Sports Diplomacy Envoy, Olympian and World Cup Champion Lorrie Fair visited Kabul, Afghanistan over Thanksgiving to show her support for Afghan women, and particularly Afghan women athletes, who face cultural, economic and security challenges but are dedicated to their sport. While in Afghanistan, Fair hosted sports clinics and discussions...

Afghanistan has made significant progress over the last ten years, and in particular, Afghan women and girls have made great strides. Millions of girls are in school; the maternal mortality rate has dropped; and health care is being delivered to many more women and children. There are women Cabinet ministers...

August 26 is Women's Equality Day, the 92nd Anniversary of women's right to vote in the United States. This remarkable day marks the culmination of years of struggle by women across America to exercise the fundamental democratic right to participate in decisions that are made by the people we elect...

Virtually every day, someone asks me about how to engage women in projects and work in the economic or social spheres. My answer is always that women -- 50% of any country's population -- are critical to progress that benefits everyone in a society. Often, the conversation then turns to...

U.N. undersecretary Michelle Bachelet wasn't on the recently released Time 100 Most Influential People of 2012, but she's certainly on my list of the most influential people in the world. For those of you who don't know her, Bachelet is the first Executive Director of U.N. Women, and...

Peter Popham, the author of The Lady and the Peacock, a spellbinding biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, has great timing. Burma and Suu Kyi are in headlines, in large part because of Suu Kyi's compelling personal story and her party's electoral sweep in Burma's recent parliamentary by-elections. After the...

March is Women's History Month, so there will be lots of events and celebrations celebrating women. There are so many inspiring stories of great work, often against overwhelming odds, to break down barriers to women's full participation in society, whether those barriers were created by social and cultural norms, laws...

I just returned from Haiti, where I was working with women, convened by the Haitian group Femmes en Democratie, to develop a women's policy platform. In Creole, "nap vanse" means we advance, and it is critical that Haitians move forward together to build a stronger country and a...

Last year, my friend and colleague, Kah Walla, ran for the presidency in Cameroon on the Cameroon People's Party line. I talked to her about that run, the Arab Spring and the challenges Africa faces. In her words, "change is such a simple word... and so difficult to...

We live in complicated times and face a raft of tough and interconnected problems, from making sure that communities prosper to ensuring that people have access to health care and education and live in a clean and safe environment. But, as we all know, solutions at times seem ephemeral and...

Yes, I did eat great sushi in Yemen, while there working on a project to address deficiencies in girls' education. Surprising, I know, because Yemen is not known for sushi. It's known for many other things: gorgeous stained glass windows, an amazing Old City, the bombing of the USS Cole,...

As we begin the Twelve Days of Christmas, and mark the fifth night of Hanukah, here are some organizations I recommend that help create sustainable change for women and girls worldwide. Happy holidays, with many wishes for a better world.

For the first day ("partridge in a pear tree"):

Efforts to combat trafficking are diverse and growing. Businesses, NGOs, academics, politicians, governments and individuals all have a role to play.

It's worth setting out the basics. "Human trafficking" is an umbrella term for the issues of forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, debt bondage among migrant laborers, involuntary domestic...

I just returned from a two week trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I was working on a project focusing on reaching women as voters, candidates and election officials as the country plans for its next election in 2013. It was a challenging time for Afghanistan, as the attack on the...

Revolutions have consequences.

Since the beginning of the year, we've seen longstanding and repressive regimes fall in North Africa, and continuing protests across the Middle East and Gulf. In real time, we are watching people struggle with how to structure new institutions, build democratic governments and rebuild (or build)...

Co-authored with Abigail L. Collazo, Editor, www.Fem2pt0.com, contact: Abigail.Collazo@gmail.com, twitter: @abigailcollazo

Last month, the award-winning actress, author and activist Marlo Thomas wrote a great piece on Huffington Post, "Passing the Torch... Who's Going to Run With it?" Afterwards, Thomas was chided a bit by her friend Gloria Steinem...

After seeing (and reviewing) The Whistleblower, I contacted Kathryn Bolkovac, whose story is the basis of the movie, and interviewed her. Her answers speak for themselves, but also give such a sense of her persona, grit and determination.

FOSTER: You were faced with a situation where...

Afghanistan is constantly in the news. The rights and lives of women and girls are at the forefront of many stories, and there is tremendous concern about how women's lives could become even more difficult if the Taliban returns to power.

It is worth reading Land of...