Girls Takeover: Finland PM hands her post to teenager for one day
08 October, 2020
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin faced a quieter day than usual on Wednesday after handing capacity to a 16-year-old within a campaign to market girls' rights.
Aava Murto, from Vaasky in southern Finland, said she was having an "exciting day" as she faced media on the steps of parliament after ending up in the chancellor of justice.
Murto added that she had "learnt some new reasons for having legislation."
In the afternoon, the student who actively campaigns on climate and human rights issues was to speak with MPs and the minister for development and foreign trade.
Her message to decision-makers has been that girls "need to realise more how important they are, and how they are just nearly as good at technology as boys," she told AFP.
"I think young persons could teach adults to become more ground breaking and think more about the near future," she added.
The swap is part of a worldwide "Girls Takeover" campaign by children's rights charity Plan International, which aims to raise awareness of girls' digital skills and opportunities in technological industries and highlight the challenge of online harassment against women.
Although Finland scores highly in international gender equality comparisons, women remain heavily under-represented in technology companies and boardrooms, as the country's share of females starting technology-related studies may be the lowest in the OECD.
The global campaign coincides with the UN's International Day of the lady Child on Sunday, and can also allow girls undertake the jobs of ministers in Kenya, Peru, Sudan and Vietnam.
Elsewhere, senior jobs at Microsoft, Samsung, Facebook and Twitter will go to teenage girls in countries including El Salvador, Guatemala, the Netherlands and the Philippines.
Finnish premier Marin, 34, became the world's youngest head of government when she took office in December, leading a coalition of five centre-left parties who were all led by women.
Marin didn't have Wednesday free however, as she took part in budget negotiations each morning.
A well planned working breakfast with Murto was cancelled at the last minute, but they were because of meet for a debrief in the evening.
Asked if she would be interested in performing full-time in a couple of years, Murto told AFP: "It isn't up to me to choose that, but possibly, yeah!"
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