Jacinda Ardern - The African Mirror

Jan

2023

Jacinda Ardern steps aside as NZ PM with ‘no more in the tank’

LUCY CRAYMER NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a shock announcement that she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country and would step down and not seek re-election. Ardern, holding back tears, said it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and that she was only human and needed to step aside. "I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term - because that is what this year requires. I have not been able to do that," Ardern, 42, told a news conference. "I…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

New Zealand’s collective backlash at Christchurch film

WORLD

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER JACINDA Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, has reacted negatively to the plans for a film about the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, calling them ill-timed. News has been travelling from Hollywood on the plans for a film that would be based on the mosque shooting, in which a gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people and wounding 40. Ardern responded to a question posed to her on TVNZ’s Breakfast show, saying that she felt that a film on the attacks felt “too soon” and “too raw” for the people of New Zealand. “While…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Leaders in COVID fight praised in Forbes list of world’s powerful women

WORLD

MATTHEW LAVIETES FEMALE leaders who have stood out for their handling of the coronavirus earned honors in the annual Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women, which highlighted women's roles in battling the global pandemic. Women from prime ministers to corporate executives earned spots in the list for their achievements helping mitigate and control the deadly contagious virus, which has infected more than 67 million people and caused 1.54 million deaths, Forbes said. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Tokyo Governor Yuriko…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Harris’ VP win makes history, but attitudes to women’s leadership shows room to grow

WORLD

EMMA BATHA FROM New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to Germany's Angela Merkel, women leaders have won praise for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but more than half of men are still unconvinced about having a woman at the helm, a study showed on Monday. The survey found only 52% of people across the G7 group of wealthy countries - 46% of men and 59% of women - would feel "very comfortable" with a woman as head of their government. While that did mark a six-point rise from 2019, research company Kantar said its Reykjavik Index for Leadership showed no change…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

New Zealand’s Ardern storms to re-election with ‘be strong, be kind’ mantra

WORLD

PRAVEEN MENON JACINDA Ardern turned speaking from the heart and smiling through adversity into a winning formula for a blowout re-election as New Zealand's leader yesterday. Now Ardern, who made a name for herself by crushing COVID-19 in the country and healing the nation after a massacre of Muslims by a white supremacist, faces a challenge to show her leadership extends beyond crisis management and kindness. Her Labour Party won a landslide victory in the general election, a resounding mandate that ushers in New Zealand's first purely left-leaning government in decades and may allow her to form a single-party government.…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

New Zealand ruling party vows to ban efforts to alter sexual orientation

LGBT+

NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's centre-left government vowed on Monday to ban conversion therapy, which aims to change a person's sexual orientation, if returned to power, as widely expected, in polls on October 17. The globally discredited treatment, which harms and stigmatizes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans community has adherents in New Zealand, however. A recent survey showed more than one in six respondents reported being subjected to the efforts of psychiatrists, psychologists or counsellors to stop them being trans or non-binary, Labour Party leader Tāmati Coffey said. "Conversion therapy has been linked to severe adverse…