Sweden ranks world's best place for mothers

STOCKHOLM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Sweden has once again been rated as "the best place to be a mother in the world" by a U.S.-based charity in a report assessing the well-being for mothers around the world.

The report, released by the aid agency Save the Children Tuesday, illustrates where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardship.

Save the Children has done the assessments of such aspects as longevity, drinking water quality, maternity leave allowances, women's political participation and the mortality rate of children under five.

Norway ranks second on the list of 146 countries in the State of the World's Mothers' index, followed by Iceland which ranks third.

Among the top 10 countries on the list are also New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Germany and France.

The low-ranked countries include Niger, Chad, Yemen, Sierra Leone, Angola, Guinea Bissa, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali and Ethiopia.

The organization releases its report annually since 2000 in a bid to arouse public concerns about life quality for mothers around the world.