This week World Denver will celebrate Women’s History month with a conference and festivities as it has done in the past. Laura Chinchilla, the first woman president of Costa Rica, is the keynote speaker.

March was designated National Women’s History month in the United States in 1987 by the US Congress in recognition of women’s many accomplishments throughout American history. A variety of agencies, schools and organizations observe the month by focusing on “consistently overlooked and undervalued” role of American women in history.

There’s a common myth that the month’s significance dates back to 1857 when a group of female garment workers in New York staged a protest on March 8 demanding better working conditions and better pay. Truth is, the designation of March as Women’s month was instituted by a congressional resolution proclaiming the week, including March 8, to be National Women’s History week, an idea that expanded the observance of the entire month of March as Women’s History Month.

Women’s work and responsibilities tend to be undervalued as demonstrated by, among other things, men’s higher pay for doing the same job as women. In general though, American women have been getting a better shot in the workplace, and dare I say, at home, where they often are single parents.

I cannot think of American women’s progress in isolation from the state of women around the world. In our podcast Never Again that I host for CoAGG, Coalition Against Global Genocide, we have discussed the atrocious state of women in areas where genocidal men hold sway, and where it is always the women and their children that suffer the brunt of untold atrocities.

Even as we celebrate our mothers ’and daughters ’progress, we shouldn’t forget our good fortune we don’t live in places where hordes of hardened rapists, torturers and murderers riding on camels, driving tanks, descend on people’s daughters and wives.

You see, in places like Myanmar, Darfur and Congo, warlords direct the early homicide of their enemies ’boys and men. Then women and children live a hellish existence; in fact many women say it is best to die a quick death than to be exposed to the heinous behavior of heartless enemies.

I say this not to spoil American women’s festivities, but to remind all of us that in sandy desert expanses women’s tears and blood are shed daily and often for many years. Let’s be aware of this when we triumphantly celebrate our gains and remember that there are those who travel for

days or weeks without water or food. Often others starve not because there is no food, but, as in the case of the closure of USAID, incredible amounts of food were not delivered to the starving because much of it was left unused, to rot in storage.

I bring up the issue of starving children, and tortured women because it represents the other face of the same coin: celebration of what has been won must always remind us of all that is still to be fought for and won.

I think that when we celebrate our good fortune, it is worthwhile to cast back to where we all came from. By that I mean that a century ago the state of American womanhood was quite dire. Sadly, the state of some women in America still leaves a great deal to be desired. Progress is never linear or uniform. It is my opinion that those of us who have walked into the light have a duty to let the light shine on others who still live in darkness. The nature of light is, it has no limits on who it illumines; it only asks we direct its beam to where it is needed — to new dark places.

I was born to a tribe where men ruled the day and women had little say. My life in America has changed my outlook about gender equality. I’m also happy to say that in the place where I was born, women have taken on roles once exclusively men’s domain. From that viewpoint, Kenya is light years ahead of places like the Congo, Darfur, South Sudan, and Myanmar where women are regarded as prey to be hunted, to be harmed.

American women have come a long way; their possibilities are enormous. Still, we must work to level the playing field for all American women, even as we toil to shine a light on where men’s behavior continues to be beastly.

Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students ‘STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, “Never Again.”