Helen clark undp biography of mahatma gandhi

She was ranked by Forbes as the 20th-most powerful woman in the world in After three successive electoral victories, her government was defeated in the election ; Clark resigned as Prime Minister and party leader on 19 November In , she stood for the position of secretary-general of the United Nations , but was unsuccessful. Clark was the eldest of four daughters of a farming family at Te Pahu , west of Hamilton, in the Waikato.

Her father, George, was a farmer. Her thesis focused on rural political behaviour and representation. Clark has worked actively in the New Zealand Labour Party for most of her life. In she assisted Labour candidates to the Auckland City Council , three of whom were elected. Clark was a junior lecturer in political studies at the University of Auckland from to Her father supported the National Party in that election.

Clark served as a member of Labour's national executive committee from until September , and again from April However, on the second day of the party conference, she withdrew her candidacy, allowing union secretary Dan Duggan to be elected unopposed. Leader of the Labour Party. Leader of the Opposition. Prime Minister. Administrator of the UN Development Programme.

Clark did not contest the election , but in she put her name forward to replace long serving MP Warren Freer in the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert. Clark was duly elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the general election , as one of eight female members in the 40th Parliament. Her first parliamentary intervention, on taking her seat was on 12 April to give notice, she would move a motion condemning the US Navy's deployment of nuclear cruise missiles in the Pacific [ 22 ] Two weeks later in her maiden speech, with unusual emphasis on defence policy and the arms race, Clark again condemned the deployment of cruise, Pershing and SS20 and the global ambitions of both superpowers navies, but claimed the Soviet admirals did not plough New Zealand's waters and expressed particular concern about the expansion of the memo of ANZUS understanding for the resupply of weapons to New Zealand to include nuclear weapon resupply.

During her first term in the House — , Clark became a member of the Statutes Revision Committee. In her second term — , 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 to form a single committee. Clark became the Leader of the Opposition on 1 December Clark announced her first shadow cabinet on 13 December , but the ousted Moore refused any portfolios.

The Labour Party rated poorly in opinion polls in the run-up to the general election , and Clark suffered from a low personal approval rating. However, she survived an attempted leadership coup by senior members who favoured Phil Goff. Shortly before the election she also achieved a rapprochement with Moore who was previously thinking of setting up his own party who accepted the foreign affairs and overseas trade portfolios, calming internal tensions.

In , Clark was involved in a defamation case in the High Court of New Zealand with Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Joe Brownlee, resulting in Clark's making an unreserved apology. The case centred 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.

Under Clark's leadership, Labour became the largest party in parliament from to During her period 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 —these major offices of state were simultaneously occupied by women between March and August Clark entered office just three years after the adoption of the Mixed Member Proportional MMP voting system , which had produced an unstable National-led government under Bolger and Shipley.

Clark negotiated the formation of successive coalition governments. Political scientist Bryce Edwards identified Clark's ability to lead stable governments as her most significant achievement, arguing that her ability to work with a variety of coalition partners—including the Alliance , Jim Anderton's Progressive Party , Green , United Future and New Zealand First —consolidated public support for MMP.

Clark's particular interests included social policy and international affairs. A strong supporter of nuclear disarmament , Clark pursued a policy of peace-making within the Pacific region. Clark made every attempt to make sure that gender was not an issue in politics. However, Bryce Edwards states that others did. Clark was portrayed as bloodsucking, cold, and humourless.

Clark says herself that when her male counterparts spoke in the media, they looked strong and determined, whereas when she portrayed the same characteristics, the media made it to look like she was "tough" and "nagging. In Clark was 20th in Forbes magazine's ranking of the world's most powerful women. The general election produced a historic moment for New Zealand; for the first time, two women, Clark and Shipley, campaigned against each other as leaders of the country's two major parties.

Clark repeatedly stated her desire to "govern alone" rather than as part of a coalition. Clark addressed the Alliance's annual conference in August In January , 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 , 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". Clark also responded by saying that National supporters had funded Doone's defamation-suit.

Ex-convict John Yelash claimed that Carter had approached him to help with the investigation; a claim that Carter denied. Jiang referred to the Prime Minister as an "old friend". He stated that China hoped to "establish bilateral long-term and stable overall cooperative relations [with New Zealand]". As Opposition Leader in , Clark signed her name to a canvas that had been painted on by another artist.

The painting was subsequently auctioned to charity. A police report found evidence for a prima facie case of forgery, but determined that it was not in the public interest to prosecute Clark. In June , Clark apologised on behalf of New Zealand for aspects of the country's treatment of Samoa during the colonial era. The Alliance split in over the Government's commitment of New Zealand troops to the War in Afghanistan , leading to the imminent dissolution of Labour's coalition with that party.

Political opponents claimed that Clark could have continued to govern, and that a snap election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in opinion polls. A major issue during the election campaign was the end of a moratorium on genetic engineering , strongly opposed by the rival Green Party. A television interview with John Campbell was terminated by Clark when she was taken by surprise by the allegations, [ 72 ] which she claimed to have known nothing about prior to the interview.

The affair was dubbed " Corngate " by the media. Clark won a second term in the general election —her party increased both its share of the vote and number of seats. I think it's inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic and that would reflect the reality that New Zealand is a totally sovereign-independent 21st century nation 12, miles from the United Kingdom.

A republican , Clark stated in that she thought it was "inevitable" that New Zealand would become a republic in the near future. 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 ; and the abolition of the title " Queen's Counsel " replaced by " Senior Counsel ", restored in In November , Clark announced that negotiations with China had commenced for a free-trade agreement , eventually signing a comprehensive agreement in July In , following that year's general election , Labour and the Progressive Party renewed their coalition, with confidence and supply arrangements with both New Zealand First and United Future in exchange for giving the leaders of those parties ministerial positions outside Cabinet.

Clark became the first Labour leader to win three consecutive elections. On 26 May , Clark ordered a military deployment to the East Timorese crisis alongside international partners. Clark's major overseas visit of her third term was a trip to the United States in March , where she met with George W. Bush in Washington. Despite her strained relationship with the President, they agreed on many issues, including working cooperatively in foreign affairs, commerce and the need for both nations to work toward energy security.

On 8 February , Clark was recognised as the longest-serving leader of the Labour Party in its history although some uncertainty exists over the exact date when Harry Holland became party leader , having served for 14 years, 69 days. Labour had been consistently behind the National Party in opinion polls since , and the gap widened significantly in early Clark's personal popularity was eclipsed by John Key soon after the latter's election as National Party Leader in November In the final media polls prior to the election Key was ahead of Clark in preferred prime minister polls by eight points in the Fairfax Media Nielsen poll and four points in the One News Colmar Brunton poll.

National overtook Labour as the largest party following the election. Labour did not have the numbers to ally with smaller parties and no viable path to government; Clark conceded defeat to Key and announced that she was standing down as party leader. Early in her career, Clark gained a reputation as a capable advocate of nuclear disarmament and public health policy.

Clark's government was pragmatic, [ ] managerial, [ 98 ] concerned with stability, [ ] and focused on incremental changes over grand projects. In a close race she received 25 per cent of the vote, ahead of Victoria Cross recipient Willie Apiata at 21 per cent. Forbes magazine ranked Clark the 22nd most powerful woman in the world in , [ ] down from 20th in Clark was the first defeated Labour Prime Minister to immediately resign the party leadership rather than lead it in Opposition.

She served as the shadow foreign affairs spokesperson [ ] in the Shadow Cabinet of Phil Goff for several months before retiring from Parliament in April to accept a position with the United Nations UN. In , Forbes upgraded her position to 21st most powerful woman in the world after she was appointed to administer UNDP for a second term and for her potential future as UN Secretary General.

Clark was recognised for her managerial style of leadership. In February , Clark visited Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to express solidarity with those working to prevent the spread of Ebola. On 24 May , a Foreign Policy article alleged that Clark's tenure as Administrator had "left a trail of embittered peers and subordinates", and accused her of "undercutting the UN's promotion of human rights".

On 26 January , Clark announced that she would not seek re-election as UNDP Administrator after the completion of her four-year term. She said it had been an "honour and privilege" to have served in the role. She did not confirm her interest, but commented: "There will be interest in whether the UN will have a first woman because they're looking like the last bastions, as it were.

The UN's role in the Haiti cholera outbreak has been widely discussed and criticised. There has been indisputable evidence that the UN is the proximate cause for bringing cholera to Haiti. Peacekeepers sent to Haiti from Nepal were carrying asymptomatic cholera and they did not treat their waste properly before dumping it into Haiti's water stream.

Another issue that received attention during Clark's candidacy was allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. This gross problem was brought to light after Anders Kompass exposed the sexual assault of children by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. Straw polls were taken by secret ballot in October Clark finished fifth place in the sixth poll; her candidacy was effectively vetoed when three of the permanent Security Council members voted against her.

She served in the role alongside former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , and of her appointment Clark said she hesitated before accepting because she felt the panel's task was "mission impossible". On 19 January, the independent panel concluded that Chinese officials could have moved faster in January to curb the initial COVID outbreak, and criticised the WHO for not declaring an international emergency until 30 January Clark was brought up as a Presbyterian , attending Sunday school weekly.

When she was Prime Minister she described herself as an agnostic. She married sociologist Peter Davis in , shortly before she was elected to Parliament. After the elections Clark said: "It was a difficult campaign". In an essay for the book Head and Shoulders in she said: "As a single woman I was really hammered. I was accused of being a lesbian, of living in a commune, having friends who were Trotskyites and gays In March , Clark referred to National MP Wyatt Creech as a "scumbag" and a "sleazeball" for having raised the issue of a potential conflict of interest involving Davis, who was leading an academic research team studying government health reforms.

Clark is a keen hiker and mountaineer. During her tenure as UNDP administrator and afterwards, Clark's presence on social media and avid use of Twitter has attracted positive attention in news media. During the New Zealand cannabis referendum , Clark publicly supported the "Yes" vote campaign to decriminalise recreational cannabis , arguing that prohibition did not work.

She said it was "most regrettable that countries have acted in this precipitous way to defund the organisation on the basis of allegations". While Clark acknowledged that the allegations against UNRWA were serious, she said that "defunding the agency without knowing the outcome of the investigation was not the right decision. In April , Clark criticised the National-led coalition government 's interest in associate membership of AUKUS , stating that New Zealand foreign policy towards its Western allies was lurching away from "hitherto bipartisan settings.

Clark also said "that New Zealand has worked on a bipartisan basis for decades to balance its economic interests, democratic values, and nuclear-free and independent foreign policy. For almost nine years, Helen Clark shouldered both the powers and responsibilities of being Prime Minister confidently and adeptly. Clark has also guest-starred on bro'Town , the New Zealand animated television series.

In , the Eden Park Trust Board requested the right to stage six concerts a year, without having to seek individual planning permission — a process that had forced it to drop past concert plans. Clark said concerts at Eden Park stadium would "represent a home invasion of noise" and told a planning hearing the bid for six gigs a year should be rejected.

Clark lives four streets from the stadium and told the independent planning commission "one's home is one's sanctuary". The former prime minister moved into her home in when Eden Park was a venue for daytime cricket and rugby.

Helen clark undp biography of mahatma gandhi

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikinews Wikiquote Wikidata item. Prime Minister of New Zealand from to For other people named Helen Clark, see Helen Clark disambiguation. The Right Honourable. Peter Davis. Early life [ edit ].

Member of Parliament [ edit ]. This article is part of a series about. Cabinet minister [ edit ]. Leader of the Opposition [ edit ]. See also: Shadow Cabinet of Helen Clark. Prime Minister — [ edit ]. First term: — [ edit ]. Second term: — [ edit ]. Third term: — [ edit ]. Reputation and legacy [ edit ]. Post-prime ministerial career [ edit ].

United Nations Development Programme [ edit ]. United Nations Secretary-General selection [ edit ]. Main article: United Nations Secretary-General selection, World Health Organization [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Views and positions [ edit ]. Social media [ edit ]. Cannabis reform [ edit ]. Israeli—Palestinian conflict [ edit ].

AUKUS [ edit ]. Awards and honours [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. Keith Holyoake ; — was the last to do so, and William Massey — and Richard Seddon — both died one year into their fifth term. References [ edit ]. African countries have also moved steadily towards achieving universal primary education.

Net enrolment rates rose to 83 percent in from 65 percent in , with the majority of countries set to reach the target. In Rwanda, for instance, more girls now enrol in primary school than boys. But the continent has underperformed in many other areas — not least poverty reduction and maternal mortality — and its most marginalised regions have been left behind.

Global progress towards meeting the MDGs has been skewed by huge poverty reductions in China, failing to expose the minimal gains made in other regions, including many sub-Saharan countries. UN consultations are exposing dissatisfaction. After , we will need, at a global level, a much sharper focus on disaggregated data. Can we push forward with initiatives that will reduce extreme poverty and be positive for the environment?

An Open Working Group has been established to develop a set of sustainability targets which will be integrated into the new set of goals, and is due to file its recommendations by September A separate High Level Panel, chaired by British prime minister David Cameron, will offer its recommendations for a post strategy in May. But high among the list of concerns is how the sustainability and development targets mesh.

The hope is to integrate sustainability into every one of the goals, to ensure that gains are not swept away. Other concepts are emerging from global thematic discussions. The ILO would like to see the goal supported by social protection floors, which create basic guarantees for income and social provisions such as healthcare. The existing education MDG, which has promoted access but neglected quality, may be revised to ensure that children are learning once they are in school.

Similarly, health experts argue about whether to focus on access to healthcare or to tackle the root causes of disease. A former health minister, Ms Clark has strong opinions on the subject. You have to address the common drivers of ill-health across diseases. She was also the Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development issues.

Throughout her tenure as Prime Minister, Helen Clark engaged widely in policy development and advocacy across the international, economic, social and cultural spheres. Under her leadership, New Zealand achieved significant economic growth, low levels of unemployment, and high levels of investment in education and health, and in the well-being of families and older citizens.

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. She has seen the promotion of this latter portfolio as important in expressing the unique identity of her nation in a positive way.

Helen Clark came to the role of Prime Minister after an extensive parliamentary and ministerial career.