New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern with baby Neve makes global headlines as the first female world leader to bring her three-month-old daughter to the meeting in New York.
Earlier on Monday, she spoke at the launch of the annual “Climate Week” event. Her agenda are combating climate change, promoting global trade and supporting the rights of women and children.
Ardern appeared with her infant daughter at the UN on Monday evening, and played with her before giving a speech at the Nelson Mandela peace summit. While she spoke, Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford held Neve on his lap.
Jacinda Ardern, 38, is only the second world leader to ever give birth while in the office, after the late Benazir Bhutto, who was prime minister of Pakistan when her daughter was born in 1990.
When asked what was harder taking a three-month-old on a 17-hour flight or running the country, she joked: “It felt at the time on par I have to say!”.
Ms Ardern said she also apologised to other passengers in advance of her flight.
Ardern revealed that juggling parenthood and the prime ministership had “met my expectations” but the joy she felt at Neve “had far surpassed my expectations”.
Last week the rules were tweaked in New Zealand to allow the prime minister or ministers to travel with a nanny on overseas assignments, and have this covered by the taxpayer.
On Sunday, Ardern gave her first speech in New York at Unicef’s social good summit, restating her commitment to ending child poverty and making her country the best place in the world to be a child.
“I have the ability to take my child to work, there’s not many places you can do that. I am not the gold standard for bringing up a child in this current environment because there are things about my circumstances that are not the same,” Ardern said.
The United Nations was delighted to see baby Neve in the General Assembly hall, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“Prime Minister Ardern is showing that no one is better qualified to represent her country than a working mother. Just 5 per cent of the world’s leaders are women, so we need to make them as welcome here as possible,” he said.
Jacinda Ardern Makes History Bringing Baby to UN Assembly
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