WELLINGTON - Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will attend the Democratic National Convention that begins on Monday in Chicago, according to New Zealand media reports.

The New Zealand Herald and website Stuff both reported Ardern would be attending the event as well as joining a panel hosted by the Democrat-aligned think-tank and advocacy organisation, the Centre for American Progress Action Fund.

The four-day event will celebrate the nomination of Kamala Harris as the party's presidential candidate and is expected to draw thousands of people to the city in a show of enthusiasm for Harris' surprise ascent to the nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Ardern, who gained global attention for bringing her baby to a United Nations meeting, wearing a hijab after a massacre targeting Muslims and her government’s initial success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, stood down as New Zealand prime minister early in 2023 saying she had "no more in the tank".

Since then, she has remained largely out of the spotlight in New Zealand, however she has undertaken two fellowships at Harvard, is on the board of trustees of the Earthshot Prize and is the patron of the newly established Christchurch Call Foundation.

  - Reuters