Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Column

What Europe can learn from Jacinda Ardern's leadership

Listen to article

The theme of this year's International Women's Day is achieving gender equality and empowerment through innovation, technological change and education in the digital age.

The impact of women's access to technology in generating change and development cannot be overstated. Yet as the world becomes even more complex, challenging and uncertain, it is time to travel down an even more transformational road.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • How many male leaders would have the honesty to admit 'there's nothing left in the tank to do justice to my job'?

On 8 March this year, instead of declaratory flourishes on the well-known benefits of women's power, those working for diversity, inclusion and equity must dig deeper.

The conversation on increasing women's representation in leadership roles must be combined with actions which nurture and empower female leaders so that they can combine authority with patience and power with generosity, kindness and concern. Such a transformational redefinition of women's power is urgent.

Leaders today, male and female, are struggling to tackle the inter-linked risks of war — even nuclear conflict — as well as rising inequalities, far right populism, climate change and more. Their focus is on zero-sum games, military might and dangerous inter-state rivalries, not on working together.

'Superman' model has failed

Such approaches have outlived their usefulness. Embedded in patriarchy, the old, tired and failing 'Superman' narrative of leadership must be discarded.

Domestic and global complexities require building new and so-far unexplored leadership skills which are often decried as feminine and "soft".

In politics as well as in business, tech, development, finance and trade, the emphasis on numbers is only part of the solution.

Attention must be paid to nurturing and empowering women so that they become more than just female versions of their male counterparts.

The focus must shift to the quality of women in power, their ability to be unashamedly feminine, authentically feminist and inclusive.

New Zealand's former prime minister Jacinda Ardern is vivid proof that it can be done.

Ardern, who was just 37 when first elected as prime minister in 2017, pledged from the outset to lead a "transformative government" that would meaningfully address New Zealand's issues of child poverty, housing and social inequality. In 2019, she unveiled a ground-breaking 'Wellbeing Budget' designed to turn campaign pledges into action.

After a rare landslide election victory in 2020, Ardern formed the most diverse government in New Zealand's history, with more members of parliament than ever who were women, people of colour, LGBTQ and Indigenous.

At the same time, she doubled down on developing and displaying her empathy, compassion and impressive communication skills.

Her sensitivity in the wake of a volcanic eruption at Whakaari / White Island, the swiftness with which she banned assault-style weapons in the wake of a mass terrorist shooting in Christchurch, and her effectiveness at keeping New Zealand largely Covid-free have all been frequently cited as being among her greatest accomplishments.

Another response to the attacks was the "Christchurch Call" — a global initiative led by Ardern and French president Emmanuel Macron to urge tech giants and other governments to commit to combating the spread of extremism on social media.

Compassion and honesty

These remain important achievements but more importantly, it is the manner in which she achieved success that was remarkable.

Ardern was not afraid of acting as a woman, showing her true feelings, her "soft" feminine side and also her compassion.

During her five years as the world's only truly feminist leader, Ardern, like most other women in the public eye, was subjected to increasingly heated gendered abuse, including death threats.

The job took its toll, a fact that Ardern acknowledged with grace and elegance as she announced her resignation.

Sadly, none of the current crop of female leaders in Europe or elsewhere really pass muster.

Some, especially in Europe, think it is all about creating a "feminist foreign policy" which focuses on helping women in faraway lands. But basic concepts of geopolitical rivalry and competition remain unchanged.

Others steer clear of constructive ways to help women in Iran and Afghanistan — for example by pointing out the many ways in which Western sanctions are causing endless human devastation — in favour of displays of either performative solidarity or amplified versions of corrosive Orientalist "us and them" tropes.

In order to bring about change, as Rafia Zakaria points out, authentic women leaders must oppose narrow "white feminism" narratives which are embedded in complacency and privilege as well as in systemic racism.

Authentic women leaders can come from the north and the south, the east or the west. They can be rich or poor, young or old, black, brown or white.

What these women have in common despite their differences is a belief in peace, and a commitment to diversity and building an inclusive environment where everyone can be heard and respected equally. They know how to share power and use it in a responsible and transparent manner.

And when the going gets too much, they know there is no shame in saying: "there's nothing left in the tank to do justice to my job".

The former New Zealand leader is entitled to take a break from public life. Now we need to work on keeping her legacy alive.

Here's hoping that once she replenishes her flagging energy, she will be back in politics, hopefully in a global role. The world needs Ardern's style of empowered female leaders and International Women's Day this year should underline that.

Author bio

Shada Islam is an independent EU analyst and commentator who runs her own strategy and advisory company New Horizons Project.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Women hardest hit by energy price hike

The current cost-of-living crisis hits harder women, especially single mothers, a survey shows. Also, women in the EU will from Tuesday until the rest of the year "work for free", because of the average 13 percent pay gap.

Stakeholder

Standing for women's rights in Poland and world is liberal duty

Abortion remains criminalised in Malta and Andorra. In Poland, the ultraconservative government is doing everything to ensure that abortion is basically impossible. In Italy, Slovakia, and Croatia, despite abortion being legal, ultraconservative parties have committed themselves to scale-back access.

Column

When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

The EU must back the UN's Human Rights 75 initiative at the end of the year to rekindle the spirit of the original declaration made in 1948 — and also demand a similar recommitment from all its 27 members.

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Column

EU's Gaza policy: boon for dictators, bad for democrats

While they woo dictators and autocrats, EU policymakers are becoming ever more estranged from the world's democrats. The real tragedy is the erosion of one of Europe's key assets: its huge reserves of soft power, writes Shada Islam.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us