Pride of New Zealand

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Reported by Gu Hui Translated by Niu Shuangmei

Helen Elizabeth Clark was born into a farming family in New Zealand on February 26， 1950. Having been a lecturer in political studies at Auckland from 1973 to 1981， Clark was elected into the New Zealand House of Representatives for the first time in the 1981 general election. She became Minister of Health in January， 1989 and Minister of Labor and Deputy Prime Minister in August in the same year. Then she had her 9-year premiership from 1999 to 2008. Since 2008 till now， she has been the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.

Helen Clark， one of the longest-serving prime ministers in the world， has been considered as the greatest politician in the history of New Zealand and the pride of new zealand. She was awarded a title of the Greatest Living New Zealander and the Order of New Zealand， the highest honour in New Zealand's honours system. She is now the Administrator of United Nations Development Program.

A Powerful Stateswoman

Having served three consecutive terms of Prime Minister of New Zealand， Clark is considered as a decisive and able stateswoman. In an interview， she said diligence， constraint， tolerance and affection should be what it takes to be a good leader in the 21st century. She maintained that women with political ambitions should defy the traditional bias against women and fear no rumors whatsoever so as to realize their political dreams.

Clark is also a maverick in the political world and never stops practicing her political views： New Zealand should leave the Commonwealth of Nations. In February， 2002， when the British Queen Elizabeth II visited New Zealand， she surprised all by showing up in causal dress， grabbing the headline of the world media for a long time.

With her gracious make-up and chic wear though， Clark never hides her tough side， which is part of her unique leadership skills.

Clark was famous for her eloquence and sharp wit ever since she entered into the New Zealand parliament in 1981， making her a key Labor party member in the parliament.

The 9-year premiership makes her one of the longest-serving female Prime Minister in the world. More impressively are what she brought with to New Zealand during her tenure—a stable government， fast economic boost unseen for many years and the lowest unemployment among all industrial countries. Moreover， she stipulated decisive and assertive foreign policy which showed the resolute side of this independent and tough woman politician； she insisted New Zealand to be nuclear-free； and she refused to join the military actions against Iraq without the consent of the UN.

A Woman Prime Minister always Speak Out the Truth

As a veteran in politics， Clark was at times under attack. Facing all abuses， her only reply was： those who aimed high always neglected trifles. Inside the Labor party， her hallmarks are boldness and honesty. She never saves face for those who undermine the interest of the country and its people. Hence， Labor party under her leadership earned support and trust from the public.

She was also an important figure in David Lange’s administration. In 1987， she served as the Minister of Housing and Minister of Environment successively for Lange administration. Nevertheless， she did not countenance his reform. She once spoke out that， the economic policy of David Lange delivered tremendous harm to New Zealand. And the free market reform was a huge mistake. Lange on many occasions accused her as a boring and irritable woman.

It is her courage that further improves her authority and status within the party. When Lange came down in 1989， Clark’s status inside the party was further lifted and she took the position of vice chair of Labor party and Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand. When she was 49， she became the first woman Prime Minister elected in New Zealand’s history.

Administrator of UNDP— “the No. 3 Figure in the World”

Premiership not only brought her honors but also opened a bigger door for her： On April， 27， 2009， she was appointed as the Administrator of UNDP， which was the third important position in the UN system. She is also the first woman administrator of UNDP since its founding in 1965.

In this new position， her talent is allowed to display in full. She is getting even busier than before. Once， she flew 12 times in a day. She can only choose the most urgent matters to deal with as too many tasks are waiting for her to respond.

Clark always showed up in the place in most need of her： After the quake in Haiti， she not only thought about rescue but also pondered on reconstruction work .I she met with the former US president and current UN Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and with US State Secretary Hilary Clinton in Montreal International Conference in Canada to discuss about the after-disaster reconstruction in Haiti.

Calling for Ecological Safety and Global Sustainable Development

As the Administrator of UNDP， Clark plays a key role in promoting the MDGs of UN. She called for a reform of the world governance organization and sustainable development.

She once said that we are facing an unprecedented number of common environmental， social， and economic challenges， from global warming to the spread of pandemics； from the cyber-war and transnational crime， trade barriers， to the flow of refugees and others seeking a better， safer life. Effective global governance is needed if such challenges need to be addressed.

She welcomed the findings of the report published by UNDP entitled “Reconfiguring Global Governance – Effectiveness， Inclusiveness， and China’s Global Role”—in an increasingly global society， more acceptance needs to be given to global governance institutions as being the bodies capable of coordinating multilateral responses to issues that cut across national boundaries， but affect all nations equally. For example， a more robust Economic and Social Council would strengthen the UN’s ability to coordinate global economic governance at a time when financial stability is of great concern.

Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable development in Jule， 2012 was deemed as the one of the most important conferences in the UN history. It has been 20 years since the first Rio conference was held. In 2012， leaders from around the world reunited in Rio de Janeiro to seek pragmatic approaches for balancing the social economic development and environmental protection as well as to make the global commitment of sustainable development become national policies.

In an interview she said， at the level of individual citizen， they understand we should be much more careful with the resources. Such as in New Zealand， the kind of campaign we used to have， it was at the level of here you can get down your energy bill， turn off the lamp bulb， adjust water heater， adjust the temperature， just simply things. In fact what appeals to people about resource efficiency at the household level is it would save money， not only save the planet， I think if we told them this link， most people likely to make the change.

Elegant and redefined like a scholar， Clark always appears with her trademark smile and a black handbag. On January 23， 2009， Helen Clark was voted as the “Greatest Living New Zealander”.