Last Wednesday, a 16-year-old teenager, who actively campaigns on climate and human rights issues, got a chance to step up and be the prime minister of Finland for a day, as part of the country’s incumbent leader Sanna Marin’s fight to end the gender gap.
The move of ‘PM for a day’ is part of a global ‘Girls Takeover’ campaign by children’s rights charity Plan International. The organization aims to raise awareness of girls’ digital skills in technological industries and highlight the problem of online harassment of women.
Marin stepped aside and let Aava Murto take her position in order to highlight the effect of tech on gender equality, during which the latter met politicians and highlighted women’s rights in technology. She beautifully used the platform to decry online violence and gender stereotypes about technology.
If a girl says she plays video games, she is often considered weird,” Murto said in a speech posted on the government website. “If, on the other hand, a boy says he does not play video games or have a game console, he is considered weird for that reason.” Girls around the world fear being excluded and discriminated against for getting involved in IT and technology, according to Murto.
During her brief tenure as the country’s top leader, Murto met with Marin, as well the minister for development and trade and the country’s chancellor of justice. Murto also spoke to the media, telling them she had “an exciting day.”
When asked if she would be interested in one day taking on the job full-time, Murto told the AFP news agency “It’s not up to me to decide that, but possibly, yeah!”
