Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern will help tackle violent extremism online and also serve on the board of directors of an environmental award set up by Britain’s Prince William as she looks to a life after politics.
Ms Ardern resigned as prime minister in January, saying she had “no more in the tank” to lead the country and would not seek re-election to parliament.
Ms Ardern, who became the world’s youngest female leader when she took power in 2017 at the age of 37, will serve as an unpaid special correspondent for the Christchurch Call, an initiative she launched in 2019 to support countries and technology was co-founded to bring the companies together and Fight extremism, said the government.
In March 2019, 51 people were killed and 40 were injured in attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city.
The white supremacist gunman who carried out the attack live-streamed part of it on Facebook.
“The Christchurch Call is a foreign policy priority for the government and Jacinda Ardern is uniquely placed to keep pushing forward with the goal of eliminating violent extremist content online,” her replacement as prime minister, Chris Hipkins, said in a statement, reports RTE.
Ms Ardern rode a wave of popularity dubbed “Jacindamania” for becoming prime minister and campaigning for women’s rights and ending child poverty and economic inequality.
She has also won international acclaim for her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But her popularity waned during her final year in power as inflation hit a nearly three-decade high, along with rising crime and controversial water infrastructure improvements.
“Five years probably felt more like nine, just because of what we all went through as a nation,” Ms Ardern stated in an interview with TVNZ, state broadcaster, reports RTE.
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