Bakhtawar Bhutto was moved by a portion of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s address as the graduation speaker for Harvard’s 371st commencement.
While New Zealand’s Prime Minister dazzled the audience with her address, Bakhtawar Bhutto was moved by the homage to her mother.
She described how New Zealand’s Prime Minister mentioned a woman who gave birth while in government. This is something she did herself in 2018. Furthermore, the second baby born in office to a female head of government shares a birthdate with Benazir Bhutto.
Aside from Jacinda Arden, there are just a few female leaders of government in the world right present, including Iceland’s Katrin Jakobsdottir, Namibia’s Saara Kuugongelwa, and Bangladesh’s long-serving Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
In addition to Benazir Bhutto, women such as Iceland’s Vigds Finnbogadóttir created history. Vigds Finnbogadóttir is also the country’s longest-serving female head of state, having held the position for 16 years. Only Sheikh Hasina has exceeded this record.
Meanwhile, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the first democratically elected female Prime Minister. The very first in Asia.
Years after Benazir Bhutto was elected as the Muslim world’s first female leader, we still have a long way to go. Despite many nations’ attempts to achieve gender parity in government, much remains to be done.