More women leaders needed to solve world’s problems: former New Zealand PM

CTVNews.ca: Helen Clark on state of women's rights Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme sat down with former prime minster of New Zealand Helen Clark and talked about women's rights.

If more women were in positions of leadership, the world would be a more peaceful place, according to former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.

In a sit-down interview with CTV National News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme, Clark said that the reason issues such as women’s health and sexual violence remain so pervasive is due to a lack of women at the table.

“I am of the view that if women were much more prominent in decision making at every level, we would not have the degree of conflict, violence, inequality, hunger, that we see in the world today,” Clark said Wednesday at the Canadian Conference on Global Health, held in Toronto.

“Because I believe that while not every woman in leadership acts in a way that is supportive of women, most do.”

When she was elected in 1999, Clark became the second female prime minister in New Zealand’s history. She held the job until 2008, and later worked as administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.

Over the years, Clark has met plenty of women who are trying to enter politics, but she says even more are needed.

“For the most part, these are women who want to make a difference for women – but there are not enough of them. The global average of women in parliaments is 23 per cent. The number of heads of state who are female is under eight per cent -- and that includes queens, by the way,” she said.

“So we really need women in these positions to be bringing women’s perspectives of what the needs are.”

Clark and LaFlamme also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Donald Trump’s presidency and what Clark thinks is the best way is to support civil societies around the globe. For more, watch the full interview in the video above.