Mothers around the world are trying to protect their children from danger

displaced at home, many mothers have fled Ukraine to let their husbands fight — becoming the lion’s share of the 2 million refugees in Europe. It is estimated that in Poland, 90% of the displaced are women and children.

Outside Europe, women are struggling with civil war.

In Sudan, we are only beginning to understand the loss of life in this recent outbreak of violence in a renewed civil war between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army.

One story stands out: a radio profile of Nagwa Khalid Hamad, a wife and mother of four — an ophthalmologist in Khartoum, killed when a mortar exploded on her home. She was just living a peaceful life.

Some women have escaped Sudan only to find themselves in refugee camps in Africa and the Middle East. For women, a refugee camp presents a unique danger. They are at high risk of sexual violence, harassment and human trafficking. Women are often raped just going out to forage for food. Their children experience lives filled with ethnic tension, famine, climate change and terrorism.

Then there is Afghanistan, where the Taliban denies women their rights each day — depriving mothers and young girls of their freedom.

The United Nations has condemned the ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. in Afghanistan, which follows a pattern of the Afghan government banning women from working for any non-profit organization unless it is to treat Taliban men, medically.

There is the harrowing tale of two young Afghan women musicians escaping to Portugal from Kabul, featured in the Voice of America documentary “Symphony of Courage.” Farida and Zohra Ahmadi were the youngest and the last musicians to flee the Afghan National Institute of Music, the country’s only music school, and its acclaimed Zohra Orchestra, Afghanistan’s first all-female ensemble. Today, the voices of women artists in Afghanistan have been silenced.

The mothers and daughters of Iran are never far from my mind. News coverage of their protests have diminished but not their courage in the face of adversity and government crackdowns. Think of Masha Amini, who was arrested by the morality police last September for allegedly not complying with the mandatory dress code. She died in custody, sparking protests across the country. Her mother marches on without her daughter.

And here in America, we must do better for women and children.

There are 9 million kids in this country who are hungry. Soaring food prices affect all families, but the impact is felt, disproportionately, on women and children.

For women who need reproductive care, they are facing a complex web of restrictions after the Supreme Court took away access to abortion.

And we have women and children streaming across the border from Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua and other countries, running from violence and war. I hope they find America to be the land of freedom, but it is getting harder for the United States to be a role model for women fleeing division and trauma.

When it comes to women and to Mother’s Day, we must do better on this day of celebration and sadness for women at home and abroad.

Tara D. Sonenshine was U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. She is professor of practice at the Fletcher School of

Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.