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 Helen Clark served three successive terms as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008. She became the Administrator for the United Nations Development Program in 2009. She is the first woman to hold this position. 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, and has been an Executive Member of the party’s Auckland Regional Council, Secretary of the Labour Women's Council, and a member of the Policy Council.
In 1987, Clark
became a Cabinet Minister in New Zealand’s Fourth Labour Government, first as
Minister of Housing and as Minister of Conservation, then as Minister of Health
and later as Deputy Prime Minister. When her party came into office as part of
a coalition following the 1999 election, Clark became Prime Minister.
Under Clark,
New Zealand has seen significant improvements in its social and economic
spheres. The minimum wage has been raised six times, the welfare system has
improved, and there has been sustained and stable economic growth, including a
reduction in unemployment.
Clark has been ranked the 38th Most Powerful
Woman in the World by Forbes, and has been honored numerous times for her
policies and actions. The government of the Solomon Islands awarded Clark the
Star of the Solomon Islands in 2005 in recognition of New Zealand's role in
restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands, and in January 2008 Clark won
the United Nations Environment Program Champions of the Earth award in
recognition of her government’s promotion of sustainability initiatives.
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