Presenting her candidacy for the post of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Helen Clark, said today “I have led the UNDP to its current ranking to the most transparent development organization in the world and I want to bring that approach to the UN too.”
Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator and a former Prime Minister of New Zealand is one of nine candidates making a bid in front of the Members of the UN General Assembly for the job of running the United Nations for the next five years.
Clark said the next Secretary-General needs “to update the administration and make a full use of new technologies in doing so.”
She also said she thinks “the UN can become more effective in delivering to member states. It can be a better place to work. It must be transparent and frank about what it can and cannot do.”
In an effort to make the process of electing the next top UN official more transparent, the UN General Assembly holds informal dialogues with candidates for the next United Nations Secretary-General, providing an opportunity to all Members States as well as civil society for substantive and open engagement with the candidates.
Helen Clark, who has been the UNDP Administrator for the last seven years, said she has “led the UNDP to its current ranking to the most transparent development organization in the world and I want to bring that approach to the UN too. All parts of the organization need to embrace open modern management practices in governance and I do believe investing in our staff is our greatest asset.”
She also promised that if elected, she will ensure “that the UN prioritizes a full and equal participation of women in decision making in economies and societies and here, in this building.”
New Zealand diplomate said that “Secretary-General can’t be a general because there’s not an army.”
Clark added in ”it is about soft power. It is about a power to convene. It is about a power that mobilizes the opinion. It is about advocacy. It is about upholding the Charter, the treaties, the conventions, the instruments.”