Join us for this online public event with the former leaders of Australia, Chile, Italy and New Zealand.

Michelle Bachelet (@mbachelet) is the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms Bachelet was elected President of Chile on two occasions (2006–2010 and 2014–2018). She was the first female president of Chile. She also served as Health Minister (2000-2002) as well as Chile’s and Latin America’s first female Defence Minister (2002–2004). During her presidential tenures, she promoted the rights of all but particularly those of the most vulnerable. Among her many achievements, education and tax reforms, and the creation of the National Institute for Human Rights and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights stand out. So do the establishment of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, the adoption of quotas to increase women’s political participation, and the approval of Civil Union Act legislation, granting rights to same sex couples and thus, advancing LGBT rights.

Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) is a global leader on sustainable development, gender equality and international co-operation. She served three successive terms as Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1999 and 2008. While in government, she led policy debate on a wide range of economic, social, environmental and cultural issues, including sustainability and climate change. She then became the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator for two terms from 2009 to 2017, the first woman to lead the organisation. She was also the Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the Heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development issues. In 2019 Helen Clark became patron of The Helen Clark Foundation. She is an active member of many global organisations.

Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) has been the Senator of the electoral college of Florence since 2018. In his political experience he has served as Prime Minister of Italy from February 2014 to December 2016 and as Mayor of Florence from June 2009 to February 2014. He was the youngest prime minister in the history of the Italian Republic.

Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister (2007-2010, 2013) and as Foreign Minister (2010-2012). He led Australia’s response during the Global Financial Crisis—the only major developed economy not to go into recession—and helped found the G20. Mr. Rudd joined the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York as its inaugural President in January 2015. In 2015-16, Mr. Rudd led a review of the UN system as chair of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism. He is Chair of the Board of the International Peace Institute, Chair of Sanitation and Water for All, and was recently appointed to the IMF Managing Director’s new External Advisory Group. He is a Senior Fellow with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, a Distinguished Fellow at Chatham House in London and a Distinguished Statesman with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. 

Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, will introduce the event.

Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy.

This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response.

COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term.

Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre.

This event in the series has been organised by the Institute of Global Affairs and the School of Public Policy.

The Institute of Global Affairs (@LSEIGA) aims to maximise the impact of LSE's leading expertise across the social sciences by shaping inclusive and locally-rooted responses to the most important and pressing global challenges.

The School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download at Life After COVID-19: challenges and policy response.

A video of this event is available to watch at Life After COVID-19: challenges and policy response.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.