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Source: Reuters -
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New Zealand is the sixth-best country to be a mum, according to Save the Children's annual Mothers' Index.
The index compares the well-being of mothers and children in 173 countries.
Sweden is ranked first, followed by Norway, Australia, Iceland and Denmark. Niger ranks last, below Sierra Leone, Chad, Guinea-Bissau and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Save the Children says the top 10 countries had high scores for mothers' and children's health, educational and economic status. But conditions for mothers and their children in the bottom countries were grim.
The index is included in Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers report focusing on the link between investing in early learning opportunities for young children and school success.
The report shows that New Zealand has met six out of 10 key benchmarks of suggested minimum standards for early childhood development in wealthy countries.
Sweden tops the wealthiest countries in its commitment to early childhood development meeting all 10 key benchmarks, while
Australia only meets two.
The areas that New Zealand does not meet the minimum requirements are:
-Parental leave of one year at 50% of salary;
-One percent of GDP spent on early childhood services;
-Child poverty rate less than 10%;
-Near universal outreach of essential child health services.
Save the Children New Zealand's acting executive director, Philip Abraham, said the links between good health and nutrition and healthy brain development have been well documented.
"However, today in New Zealand nearly one quarter of our
children live in poverty. Also, New Zealand's income inequality
remains higher that the average OECD."
Why is your mum so special? Share your favourite memory of
your mum on our message board below.
Check out the full report at the Save
The Children website
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentvarul said on 2009-05-08 @ 22:17 NZDT:
As we know, Blogs are playing vital role for conveying messages to the Internet World. So bloggers be ready to celebrate and convey the message of greatness of Mothers Day. Forthcoming Mothers Day is going to be celebrated in several countries across the globe though this month. Mother's Day is celebrated in different month and dates in different countries. Most countries celebrate Mothers Day on second Sunday in the Month of May. A day set aside each year to recognize and honor mothers. So I wi
hemiwaerea said on 2009-05-08 @ 11:44 NZDT:
Everything really! All the memories I have of her are happy memories. I miss her and she has been gone for 20 years now. To lose a mother when your 15 is hard. To long for her hugs and voice 20 years later is still as hard. What is special about my mum is that I still remember her smile, her voice and her love. I have another mum and that is my older sister. When mum passed she became my mum. She is still my mum and love her for it. Cherish your mum forever!