Women's Leadership

When Sanna Marin, 34, was sworn into office on Tuesday, she became the world’s youngest prime minister, a fact that drew international attention this week when her party elected her as Finland’s next leader.

Every general election is haunted by the ghosts of campaigns past.

The Bolivian senator Jeanine Añez has declared herself the country’s interim president after the resignation of Evo Morales, even though lawmakers from his party boycotted the legislative session where she assumed office.

Sanna Marin is about to assume a role that remains unusual for young women around the world. When she’s sworn in as prime minister of Finland this week, she’ll be in charge of an entire nation.

The 34-year-old Ms. Marin will struggle to defend her leftist views against coalition partner, the Centre Party, which wants action to boost Finnish employment to pay for the costly welfare state.

Finland’s parliament on December 10 approved the nomination of 34-year-old Social Democrat Sanna Marin as the world’s youngest serving Prime Minister.

Calm and confident, Esther Muinjangue, Namibia’s first woman to run for president, says she feels a “wind of change” softly blowing through the southwest African country which goes to the polls on Wednesday.

From her modest home in a quiet suburb of the capital Windhoek, Muinjangue spoke about her bid to “restore dignity” to the country’s 2.45 million inhabitants – struggling through an economic recession after nearly 30 years of independence from South Africa.