NZ One Of Best Places In World To Be A Mother

New Zealand is one of the top ten places in the world to be a mother, a Save the Children study finds

May 3, 2011 –

New Zealand is one of the best places in the world to be a mother, according to Save the Children’s 12th annual State of the World’s Mothers report and index released today.

The report documents conditions for mothers and children in 164 countries – 43 developed nations and 121 in the developing world – and shows where mothers fare best and worst. Norway and Australia top the list with New Zealand ranking at number six. The top ten countries, in general, attain very high scores for mothers and children’s health, educational and economic status.

The ten most bottom-ranked countries – eight of which come from sub-Saharan Africa - perform poorly on all indicators. Afghanistan ranked at the bottom of the list of 164 countries. Conditions for mothers and their children in the bottom countries are grim. On average, one woman in 30 will die from pregnancy-related causes. One child in six dies before his or her fifth birthday, and one child in three suffers from malnutrition. Nearly 50 per cent of the world’s population lacks access to safe water and only four for every five boys are enrolled in primary school.

“Save the Children is concerned with the wellbeing of mothers because more than 75 years of field experience has taught us that, in most cases, the quality of children’s lives depends on the health, security and well-being of mothers,” comments Liz Gibbs, CEO of Save the Children New Zealand.

“Providing mothers with access to education, economic opportunities and material and child health care gives mothers and their children the best chance to survive and thrive.”

“We are lucky here in New Zealand, but as Mother’s Day approaches it’s important that we look at the broader picture. Behind the statistics is human despair and lost opportunity and that cannot be ignored. We are asking everyone in New Zealand to do just one thing to help us raise money and awareness for the challenges that mothers and children face around the world. We’ve already had so many creative ideas for support and sharing the messages on www.do1thing.org.nz I’m urging every one to help us achieve change.

“It’s estimated that we could save the lives of almost 250,000 women and 5.5 million children if all women had access to a full package of essential healthcare – and that’s what Save the Children is working towards with our EVERY ONE campaign. Getting more female health workers is one of our campaigns key priorities,” says Ms Gibbs.

The top ten ranking countries are: 1-Norway 2-Australia 3-Iceland 4-Sweden 5-Denmark 6-New Zealand 7-Finland 8-Belgium 9-Netherlands 10- France

The bottom ten ranking countries are:

155- Central African Republic 156- Sudan 157- Mali 158- Eritrea 159- DR Congo 160- Chad 161- Yemen 162- Guinea-Bissau 163- Niger 164- Afghanistan

• Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children with members in 29 countries making a difference to children’s lives in over 120 countries, including New Zealand and the Pacific. Save the Children is working to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
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