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ndonesia has made slow progress in improving the lives of mothers and their children in recent years, falling behind regional neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and even Timor Leste, an NGO said on Tuesday.

'€œIndonesia has made tremendous progress in improving the lives of women and children over the past 15 years,'€ Save the Children country director in Indonesia, Ricardo Calvano, said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

'€œHowever, we should also be very concerned that the country fell seven ranks in the world. This reflects the slow progress in recent years to improve maternal and child healthcare and education services, especially among the poor and rural population,'€ Ricardo said.

Save the Children ranked Indonesia at 113th position on its annual 2014 Mothers'€™ Index, which shows which countries are the best and worst in which to be a mother. In 2013, Indonesia was ranked 105th.

The report, which assessed 178 countries, shows that Indonesia is still above Cambodia, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea. However, Indonesia has fallen behind Cambodia in terms of maternal and child mortality, expected years of schooling and seats held by women in the lower house of the legislature.

Finland remains the best place to be a mother and Somalia is the worst, the NGO says.

The annual report focuses on mothers who often face obstacles in keeping their children healthy '€” such as physical and economic access to essential services '€” among poverty, malnutrition, sexual violence, unplanned pregnancy and unassisted childbirth.

'€œTackling the urban-rural and rich-poor inequalities is vital if we are to improve the ranking for mothers in Indonesia,'€ Ricardo said.

He said women and children were up to 14 times more likely than men to die in a disaster and Indonesia is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and the impact of climate change.

'€œDisasters have and will cause widespread damage, which can lead to spikes in malnutrition, school dropouts and a decrease in the purchase of health services,'€ he said.

During an earthquake response in Indonesia in 2006, the distribution of donated infant formula led to its increased use among previously breast-fed infants. Diarrhea rates were twice as high among those who received donated infant formula compared to those who did not (25 percent vs. 12 percent).

Distribution of breast milk substitutes, if necessary, must be done in a carefully targeted way. Any donations of breast-milk substitutes and teats should be collected and stored until a designated coordinating agency, together with the government '€” if functional '€” develops a plan for their safe use or destruction, the NGO says.

Save the Children urged the government to ensure protection of all mothers and children in the aftermath of disasters by providing high-quality healthcare services and building the resilience of healthcare systems. (put)