Although there's a record number of women in Congress this year, only 16% of Congressional members are female. Even the Senate's Congressional Research Service acknowledges, "The percentage of voting female representation in Congress (16.8%) is slightly lower than averages of female representation in other countries."

When we elect a Senator or Representative from our region, we do so believing that he or she will have the best interests of the constituents in mind. Geographically speaking, those interests may be very diverse. Farm subsidies matter to thoe in agricultural regions, and tax incentives for new businesses matter in urban areas that have lost industry and are trying to attract companies looking to relocate to that city.

But when we elect a woman to Congress, we have an advocate for all women working for us, because many of the basic needs of women aren't site-specific. Most women have to worry about health care and costs that are higher because of gender; many find they're stuck in a loophole, not poor enough to qualify for care under one program but with insufficient earnings to pay for needed diagnostic services.

The senior Democratic woman in the Senate, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland,  is an advocate for all women. She stands as proof of why we need more women in government. She's responsive to our needs. She's watching our backs. She understands the pressing issues women face. If you didn't catch this in last week's news (and that's understandable, because there wasn't a lot of media coverage), her amendment to expand health care for women and get insurers to pay for preventive care and screenings for women was passed by the Senate with a vote of 69-31.

Ironically, two amendments put forth by female senators were on the floor; Mikulski's was one, and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) proposed the other. NPR has an interesting article that captures the flavor of the  camaraderie surrounding these "dueling amendments" and describes how just before the vote, Mikulski exhorted her fellow Senators to pay attention and ""Vote for Mikulski, don't vote for Murkowski, and please on this one, get it straight."

Many of us take our access to education for granted. We shouldn't, because what's a given in our own communities is a luxury elsewhere. Did you know that 42% of girls in developing nations are not enrolled in school? Economic hardship, gender bias, and cultural assumptions of the roles of females prevent these girls from getting an education. Lacking basic skills, many of them will grow up with few options open to them.  According to the non-profit Room to Read, "Educating girls is the most powerful and effective way to address global poverty--and the single best investment one can make."

Room to Read has a Girls' Education program that operates in eight countries:  Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Zambia. Theirs is not a broad-brush approach; the program in each country is tailored to the needs of that nation's communities and to the cultural issues and context. The local partners identify out-of-school girls or those who are in danger of dropping out, and supports them with long-term scholarships and assistance. Nearly 7,000 girls are currently involved with the program, and in 2008 98% of girls in the Girls' Education program advanced to the next grade.

Education and literacy are critical to self-determination and self-sufficiency. Room to Read's Girls Education program gives girls the tools they need to improve their lives and pull themselves out of poverty. Their website offers you the opportunity to set up a personal fundraising campaign to make a donation and encourage others to do so in lieu of gift-giving this holiday season.

It wouldn't be December without the ubiquitous Top 10 list. Perhaps that's because it's easier to end the year by reviewing the best and worst, thereby giving us that often-invoked sense of 'closure.'

I used to browse whatever Top 10 list crossed my path to see if I agreed or disagreed with the list-maker. Now that I'm responsible for coming up with a few lists of my own, it becomes less fun and a little more nerve-wracking. With every list I compile, I know I'll get both kudos and complaints.

Barbara Walters has her "Most Fascinating People." Others come up with the "Most Influential." Looking over what I've covered in the past year, I decided on "Most-Talked About." Is that a cop-out? Sort of.

I resist handing you a "Most Important" or "Most Significant" list because I don't want to play Moses coming down from the mount with a numbered list set in stone; that feels too patriarchal and not very collaborative. So instead, I looked back at the posts I wrote and the women I highlighted, and took into consideration the numbers and types of comments I received. Usually if you're buzzing about something, the rest of the world is too.

So here are my picks for the "Top 10 Most-Talked About Women of 2009." Some are serious, others are frivolous. Some made us feel good and a couple made us feel uncomfortable. All of them were women whom everyone seemed to have an opinion about.

Take a look, and then tell me if I missed anyone. If you had to put together your own "Top 10 List of  the Most [fill in the blank] Women of 2009," whom would you include?

What numbers do you associate with this time of year? Four calling birds, three french hens, 25 days of Christmas, 8 days of Hanukkah, 7 days of Kwanzaa. But one of the most important numbers may be the least familiar.

Every woman should know about the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence from November 25 through December 10. It's a global effort to raise awareness of the fact that violence against women is a human rights issue.

In more than 150 countries, over 2000 agencies and organizations have observed the 16 Days since it was established in 1991. One of them is Save Darfur, which is dedicated to helping Sudanese women who have endured rape, beatings, hunger and humiliation in Darfur and in the refugee camps of eastern Chad.

The Center for Women's Global Leadership, the sponsoring organization behind 16 Days, has a website featuring many more organizations worthy of your attention and support, along with voices from around the world sharing their stories.