Many parts of the world will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13. Meanwhile, in some unfortunate places, mothers continue to struggle just to find food for their children.

Save the Children, an international alliance of 24 nonprofit pro-children organizations from Europe and North America, are urging world leaders to respond to the plight of impoverished mothers across the world to end preventable deaths among their children.

Save the Children on Tuesday released the 2012 Mother’s Index, a study comparing the conditions for mothers in 165 countries around the world.

Health, nutrition, education and economic status of mothers and children in the 165 countries were compared in the organization’s report.

Norway, Iceland, Sweden and New Zealand are the top four best countries for mothers to raise their children. Australia ranks seventh in the list.

The report also mentioned the Top 10 Worst Places for mothers to raise their children. Niger comes first in the list, followed by Afghanistan, Yemen, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Eritrea, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan.

"Conditions for mothers and their children in the bottom 10 countries are grim. On average, 1 in 23 mothers will die from pregnancy-related causes. One child in 6 dies before his or her fifth birthday, and 1 child in 3 suffers from malnutrition," said a statement from Save the Children.

Save the Children has an ongoing petition for world leaders to make a commitment towards ending preventable child deaths across the world.

Click ‘Start’ to view images of mothers and their malnourished children in some of the challenging places in which to raise a child.

Afghanistan Australia