KarunaNews Story

Climate change, child poverty, and inequality took former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern into politics and as she was leaving it, she paid tribute to Parliament as a “place where you can make a difference” and where "you can lead, just like me." When she became prime minister in 2017 at 37, just seven weeks after being chosen leader of the Labour Party, she was New Zealand’s third female leader, one of the world’s youngest leaders and within a year, only the second world leader to give birth in office. She became a progressive global icon, remembered for her empathy while steering New Zealand through its worst terrorist attack and taking her baby daughter to the United Nations General Assembly. She stepped down unexpectedly in January saying she had "no more in the tank" after five years in office.