Bangladesh has secured 130th position, higher than India and Pakistan, in a list ranking the countries that are the best places for a mother and her children to be living in. The ranking, prepared by the children’s rights organisation Save the Children, also identified Finland as the best and Somalia as the worst place to be a mother. According to the State of the Worlds Mother’s Index report-2014, published yesterday, Bangladesh climbed six spots higher than its previous ranking and was placed at 130th out 178 countries; securing better positions than India (137th) and Pakistan (147th). However, Bangladesh still falls behind other Saarc members including Sri Lanka (89th), Maldives (90th), Nepal (116th), and Bhutan (128th). “Bangladesh has been consistently rising on the State of the World’s Mothers index, with dramatic cuts in maternal and child mortality. This is a result of strong political will and willingness to invest in healthcare for children,” said Michael Foley, director of health and nutrition for Save the Children in Bangladesh. “However, at 130th position, Bangladesh still has a long way to go in ending preventable child and maternal deaths. One out of every 24 children dies before their fifth birthday, 60% of those within the first 28 days of life, many from conditions which would have been easily treatable if they had access to a skilled health worker. Another concern is that percentage of government funding for healthcare from the total budget has been decreasing over time, instead of increasing,” he added. - See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/development/2014/may/07/bangladesh-climbs-6-spots-list-best-place-mothers#sthash.FxZeLlOT.dpuf