On the eve of Mother's Day, Save the Children , a leading worldwide, nonprofit child-assistance organization, has issued its 2001 State of the World's Mothers report , an annual assessment of nations progress in addressing the basic human needs and rights of women and girls. Weighing such factors as infant and maternal mortality, availability of family planning services, health status, female literacy and school enrollment and participation in national government, the report ranks 94 nations according to overall achievement on behalf of mothers and women. This year's report ranks Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Austria, Australia and the United Kingdom as the top 10 countries in its Mothers' Index. In addition, the State of the World's Mothers report includes a novel new index measuring national investment in girls, who represent the next generation of mothers and women. Most of the leaders and laggards on the Mothers' Index hold similar positions on the Girls' Investment index .
Healthy mothers make for healthy children.
Safe motherhood programs could prevent most of the 514,000 maternal deaths and 7.4 million infant deaths each year. Rising educational achievement for girls correlates closely with delayed marriage, delayed onset of sexual activity and postponement of early childbearing. This graphic chart illustrates the powerful correlation between the education of mothers and the mortality of her children. More routine is the incidence of domestic violence, which affects 1 in 3 women around the world, on average. The United States, for example, despite being the wealthiest nation on Earth, ranks only 11th on the Mothers' Index and 22 on the Girls' Investment Index.