UN chief Ban Ki-moon has picked former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark as the new head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to succeed Kemal Dervis of Turkey, the world body said Thursday. UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told a press briefing that Ban had asked the UN General Assembly to confirm Clark, 59, as the new UNDP administrator for a four-year term.
UNDP, which has a budget of about five billion dollars, is in charge of the UN global development work. Clark served in New Zealands parliament for more than 27 years and restored unity to a divided Labour Party after taking over the leadership in 1993. She proved to be a strong manager of the country from 1999, although her sometimes dour style saw her first administration dubbed "Helengrad." She would have become Labours longest-serving prime minister if she had been able to hold on to power until August this year.