United Nations Development Programme
Org type	Programme
Acronyms	UNDP
Head	Helen Clark
Status	Active
Established	1965
Headquarters	New York City, USA
Website	www.undp.org
Parent org	ECOSOC[1]

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.

UNDP is an executive board within the United Nations General Assembly. The UNDP Administrator is the third highest ranking official of the United Nations after the United Nations Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General.^[2]

Headquartered in New York City, the UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from member nations. The organization has country offices in 177 countries, where it works with local governments to meet development challenges and develop local capacity. Additionally, the UNDP works internationally to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

UNDP provides expert advice, training, and grant support to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries. To accomplish the MDGs and encourage global development, UNDP focuses on poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, democratic governance, energy and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery. UNDP also encourages the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women in all of its programs.

Furthermore, the UNDP Human Development Report Office publishes an annual Human Development Report (since 1990) to measure and analyze developmental progress. In addition to a global Report, UNDP publishes regional, national, and local Human Development Reports.^[3]

Background[link]

The UNDP was founded on 22 November 1965 with the merger of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance or EPTA and the United Nations Special Fund. In 1971, the two organizations were fully combined into UNDP. The rationale was to "avoid duplication of [their] activities". The EPTA was to help the economic and political aspects of underdeveloped countries while the Special Fund was to enlarge the scope of UN technical assistance.^[4][5]

Budget[link]

In 2010, UNDP’s entire budget was approximately 5 billion USD .^{[citation needed]}

Functions[link]

UNDP’s offices and staff are on the ground in 177 countries, working with governments and local communities to help them find solutions to global and national development challenges.

UNDP links and coordinates global and national efforts to achieve the goals and national development priorities laid out by host countries. UNDP focuses primarily on five developmental challenges:

Democratic governance UNDP supports national democratic transitions by providing policy advice and technical support, improving institutional and individual capacity within countries, educating populations about and advocating for democratic reforms, promoting negotiation and dialogue, and sharing successful experiences from other countries and locations. UNDP also supports existing democratic institutions by increasing dialogue, enhancing national debate, and facilitating consensus on national governance programs. This field of activity included UNDP's support of the Elections Reform Support Group which supports the election activities of the Palestinian National Authority.^[6]

Poverty reduction UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty programs with countries’ larger goals and policies, and ensuring a greater voice for the poor. UNDP also works at the macro level to reform trade, encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and ensure the poorest of the poor benefit from globalisation.

On the ground, UNDP sponsors developmental pilot projects, promotes the role of women in development, and coordinates efforts between governments, NGOs, and outside donors. In this way, UNDP works with local leaders and governments to provide opportunities for impoverished people to create businesses and improve their economic condition.

The UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG)[2] in Brasília, Brasil expands the capacities of developing countries to design, implement and evaluate socially inclusive development projects. IPC-IG is a global forum for South-South policy dialogue and learning, having worked with more than 7,000 officials from more than 50 countries.

Crisis prevention and recovery UNDP works to reduce the risk of armed conflicts or disasters, and promote early recovery after crisis have occurred. UNDP works through its country offices to support local government in needs assessment, capacity development, coordinated planning, and policy and standard setting.

Examples of UNDP risk reduction programs include efforts to control small arms proliferation, strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters, and programs to encourage use of diplomacy and prevent violence.

Recovery programs include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, demining efforts, programs to reintegrate displaced persons, restoration of basic services, and transitional justice systems for countries recovering from warfare.

Environment and Energy As the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water, sanitation and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental issues in order to improve developing countries’ abilities to develop sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty. UNDP works with countries to strengthen their capacity to address global environmental issues by providing innovative policy advice and linking partners through environmentally sensitive development projects that help poor people build sustainable livelihoods.

UNDP’s environmental strategy focuses on effective water governance including access to water supply and sanitation, access to sustainable energy services, Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and policies to control emissions of harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting substances. UNDP's Equator Initiative office biennially offers the Equator Prize to recognize outstanding indigenous community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and thus making local contributions to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS is a big issue in today's society and UNDP works to help countries prevent further spreading and reduce its impact.

Hub for Innovative Partnerships Major programmes underway are ^[7]::

• ART Global Initiative
• World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty
• Territorial Approach to Climate Change

Human Development Report Since 1990, the UNDP has annually published the Human Development Report, which includes topics on Human Development and the annual Human Development Index.^[3]

UN co-ordination role[link]

UNDP plays a significant co-ordination role for the UN’s activities in the field of development. This is mainly executed through its leadership of the UN Development Group and through the Resident Co-ordinator System.

United Nations Development Group[link]

The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was created by the Secretary General in 1997, to improve the effectiveness of UN development at the country level. The UNDG brings together the operational agencies working on development. The Group is chaired by the Administrator of UNDP. UNDP also provides the Secretariat to the Group.

The UNDG develops policies and procedures that allow member agencies to work together and analyze country issues, plan support strategies, implement support programmes, monitor results and advocate for change. These initiatives increase UN impact in helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including poverty reduction.

32 UN agencies are members of the UNDG. The Executive Committee consists of the four "founding members": UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP and UNDP. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

Resident coordinator system[link]

The resident coordinator (RC) system co-ordinates all organizations of the United Nations system dealing with operational activities for development in the field. The RC system aims to bring together the different UN agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities at the country level. Resident Coordinators, who are funded, appointed and managed by UNDP, lead UN country teams in more than 130 countries and are the designated representatives of the Secretary-General for development operations. Working closely with national governments, Resident Coordinators and country teams advocate the interests and mandates of the UN drawing on the support and guidance of the entire UN family.It is now coordinated by the UNDG.^[8]

Criticism[link]

The UNDP has been criticised by members of its staff and the Bush administration of the United States for irregularities in its finances in North Korea. Artjon Shkurtaj claimed that he had found forged US dollars in the Programmes safe while the staff were paid in Euros. The UNDP denied any wrongdoing, and keeping improper accounts.^[9]

Disarmament and controversy[link]

In mid-2006, as first reported by Inner City Press and then by The New Vision, UNDP halted its disarmament programs in the Karamoja region of Uganda in response to human rights abuses in the parallel forcible disarmament programs carried out by the Uganda People's Defense Force.

Administrator[link]

The UNDP Administrator has the rank of an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. While the Administrator is often referred to as the third highest-ranking official in the UN (after the UN Secretary General and the UN Deputy Secretary General), this has never been formally codified.

In addition to his or her responsibilities as head of UNDP, the Administrator is also the Chair of the UN Development Group.^[10]

The position of Administrator is appointed by the Secretary-General of the UN and confirmed by the General Assembly for a term of four years.^[11]

Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, is the current Administrator. She was appointed in late March 2009, succeeding Kemal Derviş.^[12] The current government of New Zealand strongly supported her nomination, along with Australia, the Pacific Island nations and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown.^[13] The five countries on the UNDP board also have some influence over selection.^{[citation needed]} Current board members are Iran (chair), Haiti, Serbia, the Netherlands and Tanzania.

Associate Administrator[link]

During meetings of the UN Development Group, which are chaired by the Administrator, UNDP is represented by the Associate Administrator.^{[citation needed]} The position is currently held by Rebeca Grynspan, appointed on 1 February 2010.

Assistant Administrators[link]

Assistant Administrators of the UNDP, Assistant United Nations Secretary Generals and Directors of the Regional Bureaus are Tegegnework Gettu (Ethiopia) for Africa, Sima Sami Bahous (Jordan) for Arab States, Ajay Chhibber (India) for Asia & Pacific, Cihan Sultanoğlu (Turkey) for Europe & CIS, Heraldo Munoz Valenzuela (Chile) for Latin America and the Caribbean^[14] and Jens Wandel (Denmark) for Bureau of Management ^[15]

Previous Administrators[link]

The first administrator of the UNDP was Paul G. Hoffman, former head of the Economic Cooperation Administration which administered the Marshall Plan.

Other holders of the position have included: Bradford Morse, former Republican congressman from Massachusetts; William Draper, venture capitalist and friend of George H.W. Bush who saw one of the UN system's major achievements, the Human Development Report, introduced during his tenure; Mark Malloch Brown, who was previously Vice President of External Affairs at the World Bank and subsequently became UN Deputy Secretary General.

Kemal Derviş, a former finance minister of Turkey and senior World Bank official, was the previous UNDP Administrator. Derviş started his four-year term on 15 August 2005.

Goodwill Ambassadors[link]

UNDP, along with other UN agencies, has long enlisted the voluntary services and support of prominent individuals as Goodwill Ambassadors or Youth Emissaries to highlight and promote key policies. According to UNDP’s website: “Their fame helps amplify the urgent and universal message of human development and international cooperation, helping to accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.” Goodwill Embassy [3] has a complete list of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors as well as Goodwill Ambassadors of other UN Organisations.

Global Ambassadors[link]

• Antonio Banderas^[16]
• Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway^[17]
• Nadine Gordimer
• Misako Konno
• Ronaldo
• Zinedine Zidane
• Maria Sharapova
• Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in November 2010

Regional Goodwill Ambassador[link]

• Arta Dobroshi^[18]
• Muna Wassef
• Hussein Fahmy
• Adel Emam
• Khaled Abol Naga
• Didier Drogba

Honorary Human Development Ambassador[link]

• Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan

Honorary Advisor on Sports and Development[link]

• Syndiely Wade

Youth Emissaries[link]

• Dikembe Mutombo
• Baaba Maal
• Maria de Lurdes Mutola

See also[link]

	United Nations portal
	Sustainable development portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United Nations Development Programme

• Official UNDP web site
• U.S. Committee for the UNDP web site
• UNDP for Beginners: a short, comprehensive introduction to the UNDP; an updated, fourth edition from June 2011 is now available online. Also available in French and Spanish.
• United Nations Rule of Law: United Nations Development Programme, on the rule of law work conducted by the United Nations Development Programme.
• Goodwill Embassy
• Declaration on Social Progress and Development
• Palgrave Macmillan, official publisher of the Human Development Report 2006
• Interactive maps
• Europe and CIS
• Twitter Europe and CIS
• Knowledge Pilot Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign
• UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth

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José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films, especially in the 1990s, including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids, the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots.

Early life[link]

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain, in 1960, to Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil.^[1][2] He has a younger brother, Javier. Although the family name is Domínguez, he took his mother's surname as his stage name.^[3] As a child, he wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of fifteen. He went on to enroll in some drama classes, eventually joining a theater troupe that toured all over Spain. His work in the theater, and his performances on the streets, eventually landed him a spot with the National Theatre of Spain.^[4]

Career[link]

Early work, 1982–90[link]

His acting career began at the age of 19,^{[citation needed]} when he worked in small theatres during Spain’s post-dictatorial cultural movement known as the 'Movida'.^[5] While performing with the theatre, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in his 1982 film debut, Labyrinth of Passion. Five years later he went on to appear in the director's Law of Desire, making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. After Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's 1986 Matador, the director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased two years later when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! as a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love.^[4] It was his breakthrough role in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, that helped spur him on to Hollywood.^[6] Banderas' having become a regular feature of Almodóvar's movies all throughout the 1980s, Almodóvar is credited for helping launch Banderas's international career.^[7]

Breakthrough, 1991–94[link]

In 1991 Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood in the documentary film Madonna: Truth or Dare. In the film, Madonna says she wants to seduce Banderas even though she knows he was married.

The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film, The Mambo Kings (1992).

Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the film, Philadelphia (1993), as the gay lover of AIDS-afflicted lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks). The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year was given a role in Neil Jordan's high-profile adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which allowed him to share the screen with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.^[4]

Worldwide recognition, 1995–present[link]

He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film Desperado and the antagonist on the action film Assassins, co-starred with Sylvester Stallone. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and in Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary masked swordsman Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.^[8]

In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.^[9] His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics. The following year (2004), he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

Banderas in June 2007

His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After, helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title: Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October.^[10] He hosted the 600th episode of Saturday Night Live (during season 31).

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in 2005.

In 2011, the horror thriller The Skin I Live In marked the return of Banderas to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since 1990 (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). In The Skin I Live In he breaks out of the "Latin Lover" mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the Associated Press Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory.^[7] He again lent his voice to Puss in Boots, this time as the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off family film, Puss in Boots. This film reunited Banderas with Salma Hayek for the sixth time.^[11]

Business activities[link]

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US.^[12] He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.^[13]

He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex,^[14] an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.^[15]

He is a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far – Diavolo, Diavolo for Women, Mediterraneo, Spirit, and Spirit for Women. After the success of Antonio for Men and Blue Seduction for Men in 2007, launched his latest Blue Seduction for Women the following year.^[16]

Personal life[link]

Banderas with Melanie Griffith at the Shrek Forever After premiere.

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and on 14 May 1996, married American actress Melanie Griffith in a private, low-key ceremony in London.^[5][17] They had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much.^[18] Both Griffith and Banderas were married to other people when they first met.^[5] They have a daughter, Stella Banderas, who appeared with her parents in the 1999 film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.^[12] In 2002, the couple's dedication to philanthropy was recognized when they received the 'Stella Adler Angel Award' for their extensive charity work.^[5]

In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party lists in the general election.^[19]

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.^[20]

He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions,^[21] although in an interview with People magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic.^[22] In May 2010, Banderas received his honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga in the city where he was born.^[6]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director and producer[link]

Theater[link]

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antonio Banderas

• Antonio Banderas appointed Goodwill Ambassador at Bay Ledger
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the TCM Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Broadway Database
• Antonio Banderas at Emmys.com

The Right Honourable Helen Clark ONZ SSI
Clark in 2010.
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 April 2009
Secretary-General	Ban Ki-Moon
Preceded by	Kemal Derviş
37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 5 December 1999 – 19 November 2008
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Michael Hardie Boys Silvia Cartwright Anand Satyanand
Deputy	Jim Anderton Michael Cullen
Preceded by	Jenny Shipley
Succeeded by	John Key
27th Leader of the Opposition
In office 1 December 1993 – 5 December 1999
Deputy	Michael Cullen
Preceded by	Mike Moore
Succeeded by	Jenny Shipley
11th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 8 August 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime Minister	Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore
Preceded by	Geoffrey Palmer
Succeeded by	Don McKinnon
29th Minister of Health
In office 30 January 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime Minister	David Lange Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore
Preceded by	David Caygill
Succeeded by	Simon Upton
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mount Albert
In office 28 November 1981 – 17 April 2009[1]
Preceded by	Warren Freer
Succeeded by	David Shearer
Majority	14,749[2]
Personal details
Born	(1950-02-26) 26 February 1950 (age 62) Hamilton, New Zealand
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Peter Davis
Alma mater	University of Auckland
Signature

Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ (born 26 February 1950) was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand serving three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008, making her the fifth longest serving person to hold that office.^[3] She has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the third-highest UN position, since 2009.^[4]

Born in and raised just south of Hamilton, Clark graduated from the University of Auckland in 1974 and became political in her teenage years, involving herself in the New Zealand Labour Party from a young age. A junior lecturer at the University in the early 1970s, Clark entered local politics in 1974 in Auckland but was not elected to any position. Returning to lecturing at University after studying abroad, she successfully ran as a Member of Parliament for the Mount Albert electorate in 1981, a position she held until her resignation in 2009. During the 1980s and early 90s, Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour government, including Minister of Housing, Minister of Health and Minister of Conservation. She would hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister for a year.

After Labour's strong showing in the 1993 election, Clark challenged the Labour leadership of Mike Moore and won, becoming the Leader of the Opposition. After failing to win the 1996 election, she led the Labour Party to a sweeping victory in the 1999 election. As Prime Minister of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, Clark's government presided over nearly a decade of economic growth, while still maintaining a large internal government deficit.^{[neutrality is disputed]}

Clark's government implemented several major economic initiatives including Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and KiwiSaver. Her government's other major policies included the Working for Families package, increasing the minimum wage 5% a year, interest-free student loans, creation of District Health Boards, the introduction of a number of tax credits and overhauling the secondary school qualifications by introducing NCEA. Her government also introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which caused major controversy and was eventually repealed in 2011. In foreign policy, Clark advocated a number of free trade agreements with major trading partners, including becoming the first developed nation to sign such an agreement with China, deployed New Zealand Defence Force personnel to the war in Afghanistan, rejected New Zealand deployment to the Iraq War and ordered a military deployment to the 2006 East Timorese crisis alongside international partners.

Her government was defeated in the 2008 election and she resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. She resigned from Parliament in April 2009 from her Mount Albert electorate and was replaced by David Shearer, current Labour Party leader, to take up the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme which was strongly supported by the government that succeeded her in New Zealand. Forbes magazine ranked her 20th most powerful woman in the world in 2006^[5] and 50th in 2012.^[6]

Early life[link]

Clark was the eldest of four daughters of a farming family at Te Pahu in the Waikato Region. Her mother, Margaret McMurray, of Irish birth, was a primary school teacher. Her father, George, was a farmer. Clark studied at Te Pahu Primary School, at Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland and at the University of Auckland, where she majored in politics and graduated with an MA (Honours) in 1974. Her thesis focused on rural political behaviour and representation.^[7]

As a teenager Clark became politically active, protesting against the Vietnam War and campaigning against foreign military bases in New Zealand. She has declared herself agnostic.^[8]

In 1971 Clark assisted Labour candidates to the Auckland City Council.^[9] Clark was a junior lecturer in political studies at the University of Auckland from 1973 to 1975. In 1974 she sought the nomination for the Auckland Central electorate, but lost to Richard Prebble.^[9] She instead stood for the Piako, a National safe seat.^[10] Clark studied abroad on a University Grants Committee post-graduate scholarship in 1976, and then lectured in political studies at Auckland again while undertaking her PhD (which she never completed) from 1977 until her election to Parliament in 1981 (her father supported the National Party that election).

Clark's husband, Peter Davis

She married sociologist Peter Davis, her partner of five years at that time, shortly before that election (under pressure from some members of the New Zealand Labour Party to marry despite her own feelings about marriage – her biography reports that she cried throughout the ceremony, although she attributes that to a headache).^[11] Dr Davis currently^[update] is a professor in medical sociology and heads the Sociology Department at the University of Auckland.

Clark has worked actively in the New Zealand Labour Party for most of her life. She served as a member of the Party's New Zealand executive from 1978 until September 1988 and again from April 1989. She chaired the University of Auckland Princes Street branch of the Labour Party during her studies, becoming active alongside future Labour Party politicians including Richard Prebble, David Caygill, Margaret Wilson, and Richard Northey. Clark held the positions of president of the Labour Youth Council, executive member of the Party's Auckland Regional Council, secretary of the Labour Women's Council and member of the Policy Council.

She represented the New Zealand Labour Party at the congresses of the Socialist International and of the Socialist International Women in 1976, 1978, 1983 and 1986, at an Asia-Pacific Socialist Organisation Conference held in Sydney in 1981, and at the Socialist International Party Leaders' Meeting in Sydney in 1991.

Member of Parliament[link]

Helen Clark first gained election to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1981 general election as one of four women who entered Parliament on that occasion. In winning the Mount Albert electorate in Auckland, she became the second woman elected to represent an Auckland electorate, and the seventeenth woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament. At the 2005 general election Clark won 66% of the electorate votes, or 20,918 votes with a 14,749 majority.^[2] During her first term in the House (1981–1984), she became a member of the Statutes Revision Committee. In her second term (1984–1987), she chaired the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Select Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, both of which combined with the Defence Select Committee in 1985 to form a single committee.

Cabinet Minister[link]

In 1987, Clark became a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth Labour Government, led by David Lange (1984–1989), Geoffrey Palmer (1989–1990) and Mike Moore (1990), first as Minister of Housing and as Minister of Conservation, then as Minister of Health and later as Deputy Prime Minister.

Clark served as Minister of Conservation from August 1987 until January 1989 and as Minister of Housing from August 1987 until August 1989. She became Minister of Health in January 1989 and Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister in August 1989. She chaired the Cabinet Social Equity Committee and became a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee, of the Cabinet Committee on Chief Executives, of the Cabinet Economic Development and Employment Committee, of the Cabinet Expenditure Review Committee, of the Cabinet State Agencies Committee, of the Cabinet Honours Appointments and Travel Committee and of the Cabinet Domestic and External Security Committee.

Leader of the Opposition[link]

From October 1990 until December 1993 Clark held the posts of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Opposition spokesperson for Health and Labour and member of the Social Services Select Committee and of the Labour Select Committee. After the National Party won the 1993 general election with a majority of one seat, Clark challenged Mike Moore for the leadership of the parliamentary Labour Party and became Leader of the Opposition on 1 December 1993. She led the Opposition during the National-led Governments of Jim Bolger (1990–1997) and Jenny Shipley (1997–1999).

Prime minister[link]

Official portrait of Helen Clark (2005)

When the New Zealand Labour Party came into office as part of a coalition following the 1999 election, Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the first to have won office at an election. (The previous Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley took office as the result of a mid-term party-leadership challenge.) During her term in office women held a number of prominent elected and appointed offices in New Zealand, such as the Governor-General, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice.

Clark was Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage from 1999 until 2008. She also had ministerial responsibility for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and for Ministerial Services. Her particular interests included social policy and international affairs.

As Prime Minister, Helen Clark was a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilise the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

As Leader of the Labour Party, Clark negotiated the formation of successive minority coalition governments. Even though some commentators^{[citation needed]} saw stable government within the relatively new MMP electoral system as unlikely, Clark's supporters^{[citation needed]} credit her with maintaining three terms of stable MMP government.

First term[link]

The first such coalition (1999–2002) linked the Labour Party with the Alliance Party (1999).

In 2000, Labour MP Chris Carter investigated the background of one of Clark's Cabinet colleagues, Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels. During the investigation, Clark referred to John Yelash as a murderer. However, the court system had convicted Yelash of manslaughter. Yelash sued Clark for defamation, resulting in an out-of-court settlement.

Clark with Paul Wolfowitz at the Pentagon on 26 March 2002.

In 2000, the then Police Commissioner, Peter Doone, resigned after the Sunday Star-Times alleged he had prevented the breath testing of his partner Robyn, who had driven the car they occupied, by telling the officer "that won't be necessary". Both Doone and the officer involved denied this happened. Doone sued the Sunday Star-Times for defamation in 2005 but the paper revealed they had checked the story with Clark. She confirmed this, but denied that she had made attempts to get Doone to resign and defended being the source as "by definition I cannot leak". Helen Clark also responded by saying that National's friends had funded Mr Doone's defamation-suit.^[12] Opinion on the significance of this incident varied.^[13]

In a report in the People's Daily, Chinese President Jiang Zemin referred to Clark as an "old friend". He hoped to "establish bilateral long-term and stable overall cooperative relations with a healthy development geared to the 21st century", and "broad prospects for bilateral economic cooperation". Clark had strongly supported China's entry into the WTO.^[14]

In 1999, Clark was involved in a defamation case in the High Court of New Zealand with Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Joe Brownlee, resulting in Clark making an unreserved apology. The case centered on a press statement issued by Clark criticising Brownlee, triggered by a constituent's complaint over the outcome of a hip replacement. Clark admitted the criticism was unjustified in that the complication suffered by her constituent was rare, unforeseen and unavoidable.^[15]

Second term[link]

The Alliance Party split in 2002 over the Government's commitment of New Zealand troops to the War in Afghanistan, leading to the imminent dissolution of Labour's coalition of that party.^[16] As a consequence, Clark called an early election and then went into coalition with Jim Anderton's Progressive Party, a spin-off of the Alliance Party (2002, with parliamentary confidence and supply coming from United Future and a "good-faith" agreement with the Green Party).

Clark believes a New Zealand republic is "inevitable",^[17] and her term in office saw a number of alleged moves in this direction, under her government's policy of building national identity. Examples include the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council in London and the foundation of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the abolition of titular Knighthood and Damehood honours (restored in 2009), and the abolition of the title "Queen's Counsel" (replaced by "Senior Counsel").

In 2002, Clark took an unprecedented step and said sorry for New Zealand's treatment of Samoa during the colonial era. Clark's apology was made in Apia during the 40th anniversary of Samoa's independence and televised live to New Zealand where Samoans applauded the prime minister's gesture.^[18]

In March 2003, referring to the U.S. led coalition's actions in the Iraq War, Clark told the newspaper Sunday Star Times that, "I don't think that 11 September under a Gore presidency would have had this consequence for Iraq." She later sent a letter to Washington apologising for any offence that her comment may have caused.^{[19][dead link]}

On 17 July 2004, a motorcade involving police, Diplomatic Protection Squad, and Ministerial Services staff reached speeds of up to 172 km/h when taking Clark and Cabinet Minister Jim Sutton from Waimate to Christchurch Airport so she could attend a rugby union match in Wellington.^[20] The courts subsequently convicted the drivers involved for driving offences, but appeals resulted in the quashing of these convictions in December 2005 and August 2006.^[21] Clark said that she was busy working in the back seat and had no influence or role in the decision to speed and did not realise the speed of her vehicle.^[22]

Third term[link]

Helen Clark at the opening of Waikato River Trail at Whakamaru, 2007

In 2005, following the election of that year, the Labour Party and the Progressive Party renewed their coalition, gaining supply-and-confidence support from both New Zealand First and United Future in exchange for giving the leaders of those parties ministerial positions outside Cabinet.

On 24 July 2008, Clark passed Sir Robert Muldoon to become New Zealand's sixth-longest-serving Prime Minister, and on 27 October 2008 she passed Edward Stafford's combined terms to become the 5th longest-serving Prime Minister.

On 8 February 2008, Clark became the longest serving leader of the Labour Party in its history (although some dispute exists over when the party's first and therefore the first male leader Harry Holland became leader), having served for 14 years, 69 days,^[23][i] by 26 October 2008 she had passed Holland's longest possible term and her position as longest serving Labour Party leader was put beyond doubt. Clark conceded defeat following the 2008 general election to John Key and announced that she was standing down as Labour Party leader.^[24] On 11 November 2008 Clark was replaced by Phil Goff as leader of the Labour Party.^[25]