Iceland is the best country in the world to live in if you’re a child and the second-best after Norway if you’re a mother, according to a recently-published report by Save the Children on the position of women and their children around the globe.

Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.

This is the 13th time that Save the Children publishes the report, "State of the World’s Mothers", comparing the conditions of mothers and children in 165 countries, using factors such as health, education, economy and nutrition level, Morgunblaðið reports.

Minister of Industry Katrín Júlíusdóttir, who is currently on parental leave, attended the report’s presentation with her husband Bjarni Bjarnason and their twin sons, Kristófer Áki and Pétur Logi, who were born on February 23, visir.is reports.

She declared it is wonderful being a mother in Iceland. “To feel now first-hand what kind of service is provided in this country is absolutely amazing,”

Katrín spoke of her experience when visiting Guinea-Bissau, which, according to the ranking, is one of the worst countries to live in as a mother, saying that witnessing the conditions of women in the African country was unforgettable.

Special attention is given to nutrition in the report which estimates that more than 171 million children suffer from hidden malnutrition which can hinder their physical and mental development and their ability to succeed in the future.

According to the report, the underlying cause of at least one fifth of deaths of mothers and one third of deaths of children is malnutrition. Expecting mothers who suffer from malnutrition often give birth to babies who are below the recommended birth weight.

“To break this vicious cycle the international community must join hands in developing and establishing a nutrition plan for mothers and infants to improve their health and life expectancy,” said Sigríður Guðlaugsdóttir, project manager at Barnaheill – Save the Children Iceland.

Barnaheill is currently organizing a petition to encourage world leaders to support plans to prevent infant mortality with simple things such as enabling mothers to breastfeed their children, which could save the lives of up to one million infants each year.

ESA