When nations around the globe recognized International Women's Day last month, on March 8th, the focus landed on the positive -- as commemorative holidays are meant to do. But according to reports, the situation for women worldwide has not improved.

Last week the United Nations released a report indicating that 70% of the world's poor are women, and that women own just 1% of the world's titled land.

This despite the fact that 185 nations in the UN vowed to outlaw any law that favors men by 2005.

The report also revealed that 53 countries allow rape within marriages, that the legal age for girls to marry is often well below that of males, and that many countries have sexist statutes on divorce, maternity, and pensions.

Yet, women comprise around 40% of the world's workforce, and on average work more hours than men.

Obviously, some countries are worse than others. In Bangladesh, for example, 40% of that nation's 140 million people live below the poverty line, and they spend 70% of their income on food. The situation is worse for women, who face deeply entrenched discriminatory values within Bangladeshi society.

In 1997, the Bangladeshi government formed a National Policy for the Advancement of Women to bring about equality and opportunity for women. But by 2005, the government had apparently changed those policies, more-or-less under the radar.

And that's just one example.

Will the values promoted by International Women's Day ever be acknowledged?