State of the World"s Mothers report 2014 by Save the Children International 9:46pm 5th May, 2014   The State of the World"s Mothers report, published by Save the Children International, compares 178 countries in terms of maternal health, child mortality, education and levels of women"s income and political status.    The State of the World"s Mothers report calls for more action to protect mothers and children in crisis-hit areas.    Somalia came bottom of the global rankings, although only narrowly below the Democratic Republic of Congo, the lowest ranking country last year, followed by Niger, Mali and Guinea-Bissau. Finland, Norway and Sweden top the list.    Save the Children International chief executive Jasmine Whitbread said it is no surprise that the 10 toughest places to be a mother in this year"s index all have a recent history of armed conflict and are considered to be fragile states.    "The poorest mothers have it the hardest," Ms Whitbread said. "The report once again points out the disheartening disparity between mothers in rich and poor countries."    Save the Children estimates that 800 mothers and 18,000 young children are dying around the world every day from largely preventable causes.    Almost a third of child deaths are found in West and Central Africa, while another third occur in South Asia, where high mortality rates are increasingly concentrated in socially-excluded communities.    Afghanistan was the worst place to be a mother three years ago, but it is now ranked 146th due to progress in cutting child and maternal death.    By contrast, Syria has slumped from 65th place in 2011 to 115th in 2014, after the conflict caused "the collapse of what had been a functioning health system, and threatens to set back progress by a generation", the report says.    More than 60 million women and children needed humanitarian assistance this year, the report says.    The reportrecommends improving access to high quality healthcare, and emphasises the benefits of investing in women"s education and economic empowerment.    http://www.savethechildren.net/sowm Visit the related web page
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