Leading by Empathy – How Jacinda Arden is Eliminating COVID-19 From New Zealand

Jacinda Arden was sworn in as the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand in October 2017, at the age of 37, which made her the country’s youngest prime minister in more than 150 years.

In her younger days, she was raised as a Mormon by her mother and law enforcement officer father in New Zealand’s North Island.

At the age of 17, Arden joined New Zealand’s Labour Party. In an interview with the Guardian, she revealed that she joined the party as a teenager not because she envisaged a political career, but because:

“It was because I was one of those young people that thought I’d like to change the world, even if it was in the smallest of ways, it just felt like I was doing something that would make a difference.”

She went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Communication from New Zealand’s University of Waikato. After this, she worked as a staff of Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister, and Arden’s mentor. She joined New Zealand’s Parliament in 2008, and served for eleven years all the while advocating for reform and fighting for change in the area of children’s rights, women’s rights, and for meaningful employment for all New Zealanders.

Arden’s political profile only grew more and more attractive, and in 2017, she was unanimously elected as the deputy leader of the Labour Party. When the Labour Party leader, Andrew Little stepped down a few months later, he named her his successor, and she was elected as the party leader on August 1, 2017.

Ardern’s long walk to becoming the third female Prime Minister in her country began in 2017. Her youthfulness, charisma, and vocal stance on pertinent issues such as poverty alleviation, free university education, etc. charmed the electorate., and although the incumbent, Bill English claimed that Ardern lacked foreign policy experience, she was eventually sworn in as the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand on October 26, 2017.

In June 2018, less than a year after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Ardern welcomed her first child with her partner, a baby girl, who they named Neve Te Aroha, and returned to office after a six-week maternity leave.

She made history yet again a few months after the birth of her child by becoming the first female leader of a country to attend the United Nations General Assembly with her baby in tow. Ardern remained unruffled by the critics who questioned her ability to function as a mother and lead the country at the same time, saying that she was not the first woman to work and have a baby.

As prime minister, she has displayed exemplary leadership, proving that political leadership does not have to focus on power and brute strength, but has shown that political leaders can be kind and empathetic too. 

In the wake of the mass shooting that killed 50 people and injured 49 at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, Arden responded with empathy and swift action. She immediately travelled to visit first responders and families of the victims. Less than a month after the shooting, New Zealand’s parliament passed a bill to update the country’s gun law, so as to reduce the likelihood of the recurrence of such an event. She was praised globally for her response to the Christchurch mosque shootings.

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As the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread, Ardern on March 14 declared a two-week isolation for anyone coming into the country. She later declared a nationwide lockdown to totally eliminate the virus from New Zealand, frequently communicating with citizens and keeping them informed about the pandemic and government action.

In early June, New Zealand announced that it was entirely COVID-19 free. In a press conference with reporters, Ardern said:

“While we’re in a safer, stronger position, there’s still no easy path back to pre-COVID life, but the determination and focus we have had on our health response will now be vested in our economic rebuild,” 

“While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone. So can I finish with a very simple, ‘Thank you, New Zealand’.”

Jacinda Ardern was honoured in Neusroom’s list of People, Organisations, Countries, and Things helping the world fight COVID-19. See the full list here.