Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership has been recognised with a prestigious Harvard University 'activist award' previously given to the late South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
The Gleitsman Award and $150,000 prize are given annually by the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, the public policy arm of the private Ivy League Harvard University in Massachusetts, United States.
"We are thrilled that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will accept this year's award," said Wendy Sherman, professor of the practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School.
"The Prime Minister exemplifies principled, effective and just leadership, exactly the kind of leadership our students aspire to uphold. She has wielded a steady and swift hand, an open mind, and a keen reflection of her entire community in meeting challenges of terror, earthquakes and now COVID-19."
It was in fact Ardern's predecessor Sir John Key who led New Zealand through the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and the 2016 Kaikōura quake. Ardern led the country through the Whakaari/White Island disaster in 2019 which did not get a mention.
Prof Sherman said Ardern "reminds all of us that strength, compassion, science, clear communications, humility and activism go hand in hand to create positive results".
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister confirmed she had been given the award.
"Her normal practice is to decline awards but in this instance we were able to convert it into a scholarship for a New Zealander to go to Harvard."
The award is given to an individual or team whose leadership in social action has improved the quality of life in the United States and across the globe, according to the Harvard Kennedy School website.
Previous Gleitsman recipients include Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Nelson Mandela who served as South Africa's first black head of state, and renowned feminist activist Gloria Steinem.
Harvard Kennedy School lauded Ardern for how she responded to COVID-19.
"In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ardern led New Zealand to record low rates of disease transmission and death through clear, science-based mandates and responsive supports for citizens and the medical community."
Ardern was ranked in the top three candidates tipped to take out the Nobel Peace Prize this year alongside climate activist Greta Thunberg and the World Health Organization.
But the award went to the United Nations' World Food Programme.
