15 May, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. The independent organisation Save the Children has published the results of a study on the situation of women and children in 173 countries worldwide, according to news agencies. Norway tops the ranking of countries where it is best to be a mother. Australia is in second place, followed by Iceland and Sweden in third. Belarus ranks 33rd among developed countries. Among the CIS countries, it holds the highest position (Russia is 38th, Ukraine is 39th), and among the former USSR countries, only Estonia (17th), Lithuania (22nd), and Latvia (25th) have surpassed Belarus. Afghanistan occupies the last place in the ranking. When compiling the motherhood ranking, researchers considered a complex set of factors influencing the situation of women and children in a country. The assessment of the situation of women was based on criteria such as health (risk of death during pregnancy and childbirth, use of modern contraception methods, life expectancy of women), education (number of years a woman dedicates to education), and economic factors (duration of maternity and childcare leave, percentage of salary paid to women during this period, income disparity between men and women). The political factor (number of women in public administration structures) was also taken into account. When studying the situation of children, the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age, as well as the percentage of children receiving primary and higher education, were considered. Belarus ranked 28th in the "women's ranking" and 36th in the "children's ranking". -0-

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