Secretary-General
nominates Helen Clark, 2008 recipient of
UNEP Champions of the Earth Special Prize,
as new UNDP Administrator
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, following consultations with the
Executive Board of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), has written to the President
of the General Assembly requesting the General
Assembly to confirm Helen Clark of New Zealand
as the new Administrator of UNDP for a term
of four years. Ms. Clark replaces Mr. Kemal
Dervis.
The Secretary-General
is deeply grateful to Mr. Dervis for the
services he has rendered to the Organization
and for so ably leading UNDP at a critical
juncture. The Secretary-General is particularly
appreciative of the great leadership displayed
by Mr. Dervis in the implementation of his
mandate.
Helen Clark's nomination
is made at the end of an extensive selection
process which included the establishment
of a senior appointments panel chaired by
the Deputy Secretary-General and consisting
of senior UN officials as well as two outside
experts in financial and developmental economics.
The Panel was composed in a manner to reflect
a combination of required expertise and
skills as well as gender and geographical
balance. The Panel was entrusted with interviewing
the short-listed candidates and recommending
the finalists for the Secretary-General's
consideration.
Helen Clark was selected,
amongst a group of excellent candidates,
for her outstanding qualifications and numerous
accomplishments in her long career. Ms.
Clark has the needed leadership and international
recognition that would allow her as the
new Administrator to build on her predecessors'
legacy. In addition, she would bring a strategic
perspective coupled with fresh thinking
and impetus for change. Ms. Clark is expected
to bring to the UNDP and the UN System her
well honed consensus building skills and
commitment to the multilateral approach
to addressing global financial and development
issues.
Ms. 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 country's 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. She was also a very active
leader of her country's international relations
at bilateral, regional, and multilateral
levels. She has been a strong supporter
of development and the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in her
region.
Between 1984 and 1987
she served as Chair of Parliament's Foreign
Affairs Select Committee. From 1987 to 11000,
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 prioritized 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. Ms. Clark was educated at Auckland
University where she studied Political Studies
and History. She graduated with a BA in
1971 and MA (Honors) in 1974.
Involvement with UNEP
Ms. Clark was awarded
UNEP's Champions of the Earth Special Prize
in 2008. By setting a carbon neutral goal
for New Zealand, she put her country at
the forefront of today's environmental challenges.
Three major policy initiatives launched
by Ms. Clark blazed new trails for sustainability
and the fight against climate change: the
Emissions Trading Scheme; the Energy Strategy;
and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Strategy.
Ms. Clark's policies
championed renewable energy and energy efficiency
across key sectors of the economy. Furthermore,
New Zealand hosted the 2008 World Environment
Day - one of the principal vehicles through
which the United Nations stimulates worldwide
awareness of the environment and enhances
political attention and action. The event
took place on 5 June 2008 with the slogan
"Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon
Economy".
+ More
Earth Hour in Africa
- Switch Off the Lights to Switch on a Deal
in Copenhagen
Nairobi - One of Nairobi's
most iconic buildings, the Kenyatta International
Conference Centre, will be plunged into
darkness on Saturday night as part of the
global lights out campaign - Earth Hour.
Billed as the biggest
public demonstration in support of a new
climate deal in 2009, landmarks and householders
across close to 90 countries are expected
to take part.
The United Nations is
among a range of organizations and business
that are backing the event which is being
coordinated by the wildlife group WWF.
For the two billion
people in the world without access to electricity,
many of whom live on the African Continent,
Earth Hour may seem more of a developed
rather than a developing country initiative.
But Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson
for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, said, "Earth
Hour 2009 is in reality of special significance
to Africa…. this is the Continent with the
least responsibility for climate change,
yet it is perhaps the most vulnerable to
the climatic events unfolding as a result
of the build-up of greenhouse gases from
the burning of fossil fuels".
"Earth Hour is
happening against a backdrop of a deepening
drought here in Kenya that has contributed
to an estimated 10 million people suffering
hunger and water shortages and fires at
several economically-important wildlife
sites that are key revenue-generating tourist
destinations including Mount Longonot and
Lake Nakuru," he said.
It is thus up to the
minority of people living in Africa with
the luxury of electricity to be fully involved,
sending a clear message from this Continent
o the rest of the world that action is needed
to seal the deal at the UN climate convention
meeting in Copenhagen in December.
"Sealing the deal
is likely to unleash the carbon markets
and is perhaps the best bet for fast-tracking
clean and renewable energy into countries
in Africa, including the rural areas, while
assisting Africa and other developing Continents
climate-proof their economies against the
climate change already underway", Mr.
Nuttall added.
Mr. Nuttall is among
more than 3,400 UN staff in Nairobi being
urged to play their part during Earth Hour.
Like the UN headquarters in New York, non-essential
lights and equipment will be switched off
at the UN Office in Nairobi in a show of
support for Africa's first Earth Hour experience.
