Onward and Upward

Former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Helen Clark is a candidate for the position of administrator of the UN Development Program, three below the UN secretary-general. The role becomes available in August when Turkey’s Kemal Dervis retires at the end of his four-year term. Clark said: “This position came up at short notice. It’s a very senior position and will be hotly contested by a number of candidates.” The administrator of the UNDP is appointed by the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, but the appointment must be confirmed by the General Assembly. The UNDC is the UN’s global development network, overseeing a budget of $US5 billion. Its head office is in New York, and it has 140 offices around the world.