Former New Zealand premier nominated for top UN development post
NEW YORK, 26 March 2009: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has requested the General Assembly to confirm former Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand as the new Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a four-year term.
The head, or “administrator”, of UNDP is widely seen as the second or third most important job in the United Nations. The UNDP has a budget of about 5 billion US dollar, and coordinates the UNs global development work across 166 countries.
– Miss Clarks nomination came at the end of an extensive selection process which included the establishment of a senior appointments panel chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General which consisted of senior UN officials, as well as two outside experts in financial and developmental economics, UN spokesperson Michele Montas said in New York.
– She is expected to bring to the position her well-honed consensus building skills and commitment to a multilateral approach to addressing global financial and development issues, Ms. Montas stated.
Miss Clark has been a member of the New Zealand Parliament since 1981, and was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008. Concurrently she held a number of other portfolios including Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage.
In government Helen Clark led her countrys policy debate on a wide range of economic, social, environmental, and cultural issues, including sustainability and climate change, and the development of an inclusive multicultural and multi faith society.
Under her leadership, New Zealand charted an independent foreign policy. She opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, but improved relations with the US that were damaged in the mid-1980s as a result of New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy.
She was a very active leader of her countrys international relations at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. She has been a strong supporter of development and the achievement of the MDGs (2015 Målene) in her region.
Between 1984 and 1987 she served as Chair of Parliaments Foreign Affairs Select Committee. From 1987–1990, she served as first Minister of Housing and Minister of Conservation, and then as Minister of Health, Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister.
In these capacities, she prioritised affordable housing, protection of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity, primary health care and public health, and gender equity in employment.
Born in 1950 in New Zealand, Helen Clark is married to Professor Peter Davis. Miss Clark was educated at Auckland University where she studied Political Studies and History. She graduated with a BA in 1971 and MA (Hons) in 1974.
Helen Clark takes over from former UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis, who stepped down on 1 March 2009 due to personal and family reasons.
A former Turkish Finance Minister credited with leading his country out of a major economic crisis, Mr. Derviş was named to the post by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a four-year term in 2005.
He had previously served for 22 years at the World Bank, where he was Vice President for Middle East and North Africa and Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management.
UNDP is the largest of the independently funded UN agencies and, under its special General Assembly mandate, leads the UNs work on eradicating extreme poverty and promoting good governance in the developing world.
UNDP plays a crucial role in helping developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals – eight targets with a 2015 deadline to promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and which aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases.
On the ground in 166 countries, UNDP is the world bodys global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.
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