MEMBER NEWS: Save the Children’s annual “State of the World’s Mothers” report

InterAction member Save the Children has released its annual “State of the World’s Mothers” report, which includes essays by prominent authors and gives annual rankings of the world’s best and worst places to be a mother.

The 2011 report finds that Norway is the best place to be a mother, and Afghanistan the worst; eight of the 10 lowest ranking countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. In Afghanistan, though it is embroiled in a war, expecting mothers are at least 200 times more likely to die in childbirth than from a bomb or a bullet.

Save the Children’s report gives evidence that the one half of one percent that the U.S. government dedicates to fighting poverty makes a dramatic difference:

• Bipartisan U.S. global leadership has been critical to reducing child deaths from 12 million to 8 million in the last 20 years and must continue, according to former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and former U.S. senator and governor from New Jersey, Democrat John Corzine.
• Of the 15 countries that receive the most U.S. development assistance, 14 have achieved reductions in child mortality ranging from 20 to 77 percent since 1990.
• U.S. Representative Donald Payne notes in sub-Saharan Africa, two decades of improvements in health, education and incomes have saved the lives of an estimated 7 million children since 2005.

For more information and to read the full report, visit Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers 2011 page.

In addition to the report, Save the Children has also teamed up with Link TV’s ViewChange.org to create a documentary called “The Mothers Index,” exploring the best and worst places to be a mother around the world. The documentary, which we have embedded below, is also available at Save the Children’s website or on ViewChange.org.

“The Mothers Index” will be broadcast on Link TV on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m. EST, 4 p.m. PDT, and on Tuesday, May 10, at 11 p.m. EST, 8 p.m. PDT.