#GAReads | Forbes' The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2020
“The World's 100 Most Powerful Women”:
The women on the 17th annual power list hail from 30 countries and were born across four generations. There are 10 heads of state, 38 CEOs and five entertainers among them. But where they differ in age, nationality and job description, they are united in the ways they have been using their platforms to address the unique challenges of 2020. In particular, several of this year’s Power Women received global plaudits for their effective responses to Covid-19: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (No. 32) vanquished a first and second wave of a virus in her country by implementing strict lockdown and quarantine procedures. Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen (No. 37) implemented a rigorous contact-tracing program in January; as a result, to date, the island of 23 million people has lost only seven people to the virus.
As Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (No. 52) put it during a global conference in November: “... [D]emocratic countries where human rights are respected and where women are able to reach top positions in society are also the countries that are the best-equipped to handle crises by Covid-19."
The 17 newcomers on this year’s list illustrate that women are leading all aspects of a society transformed by a global pandemic.