File photo. Jacinda Ardern pictured on 2023.
Photo: AFP
Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern is to be given a global leadership award by the United Nations Foundation.
The annual awards, We The Peoples, recognise “extraordinary individuals and organizations whose work embodies the values and purposes of the UN”.
Ardern will be given the champion for global change award.
The citation said it recognised her trailblazing and empathetic leadership, her commitment to championing the rights of women, combatting climate change and fostering of unity and peace.
Last month, Ardern recieved her damehood from Prince William in a ceremony in the UK.
Previous recipients of the champion for global change award included UN deputy secretary-general Amina J. Mohammed, Barbados prime minister Mia Amor Mottley, and former World Trade Organization director general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Other recipients at the 2024 awards include TIME, poet and activist Amanda Gorman, singer songwriter Angélique Kidjo, chef and entrepreneur Louise Mabulo, and UN emergency first responders.
The awards would be presented in New York on Friday.
Since resigning as prime minister, Ardern has become a trustee of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, and spent time in the United States, including working for Harvard University, as well as writing a book about leadership.
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