The United Arab Emirates has fallen two places to the 52nd position on the ranking of 178 nations in the 15th annual State of the World’s Mothers Report. Save the Children’s latest statistics reveals that each day, around 800 mothers and 18,000 young children around the world die from preventable causes. The report also ranks the best and worst places for mothers.
The UK-based NGO Save the Children released its report in early May, which examined the welfare of mothers and children in various countries based on latest data on health, education, economics, and female political participation. According to the findings, more than 250 million children under the age of 5 live in countries, affected by armed conflict. Humanitarian crisis and natural disasters are the major threats to kids and their mothers’ health and globally women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in a disaster. Nearly 95 percent of disaster deaths occur in developing countries and in fact, the bottom countries on the list are also some of the poorest nations. The worst countries for mothers share issues such as extreme poverty, weak infrastructure, and poor governance. In addition, natural disasters, which can be particularly deadly in poor countries, violence, conflict and failure to address basic human needs also contribute to mothers’ high risk of death in these communities.
The report also says that for every person killed directly by armed violence, between 3 and 15 die indirectly from malnutrition, diseases, and medical complications. Here are the bottom nations in the Mothers’ Index 2014:
- Somalia
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Niger
- Mali
- Guinea-Bissau
- Central African Republic
- Sierra Leone
- Nigeria
- Chad
- Cote d’Ivoire
In Somalia, the worst country for children and mothers, more than 6 percent of women are likely to die from a maternal cause and nearly 15 percent of kids die before their 5th birthday. According to the United Nations, over 200,000 children under the age of 5 in Somalia are malnourished.
Finland again topped the Mothers’ Index because of its positive performance in health, education and economy categories. With the exception of Australia, all countries in the top 10 are in Europe.
- Finland
- Norway
- Sweden
- Iceland
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Spain
- Germany
- Australia
- Belgium
This year, the United Arab Emirates has fallen two positions to No.52, while Bahrain ranked 50th and Qatar – 51st. Among all Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia has the best ranking, sitting at 38th position, while developed economies such as Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan are only a few places above, at No. 30, No.31, and No.32 respectively.
