New Zealander gets top UN appointment
01 Apr 2009
New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark has been named as the next head of the United Nations Development Programme - one of the top jobs in the world body.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated Clark for the job last week, and her appointment was approved unanimously by the 192-nation General Assembly this morning (1.04.09).
Helen Clark will take up her new job in New York on 20 April.
UN Development Programme
The UN Development Programme, which employs nearly 8000 people in 166 countries and has a budget of US$5 billion, provides training, advice and support for developing countries.
Clark's appointment places her third-highest in command at the UN, a ranking that is among the most powerful positions held by a New Zealander.
UN diplomats said the choice of Clark, who will serve a four-year term, reflects a desire for a candidate with governing experience.
Helen Clark "will bring a strategic perspective coupled with fresh thinking and impetus for change," Mr Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said.
First elected female leader
A former political science lecturer with a passion for mountaineering, Helen Clark has been a member of the NZ Parliament - representing the Mt Albert (Auckland) electorate - since 1981. She was New Zealand's first elected female leader.
Clark resigned last year after the Labour Party lost the 2008 election, ending nine years in power. Her nomination for the UN post had been backed by New Zealand's new National government.
Life's big moments
Clark said she had had a lot of big moments in her life, including winning her first election and winning one as prime minister.
"I guess this is another of those moments," she said.
"But actually, the sort of sense of 'gee, golly, gosh' is almost immediately replaced by 'there's an awful lot of things to do'."
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