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Source: ONE News -
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Former Prime Minister Helen Clark says China and India have shown it is possible to improve the lot of the world's poorest and most vulnerable nations.
Clark, who has been in her new role as administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for about 100 days, told Paul Henry on TVNZ's Breakfast programme that the job is much as she expected and has given her an insight into the big discussions around political insecurity.
Outside the UN headquarters in New York where Clark is now based, she told Henry that China and India have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty through growth, trade, investment and employment. She says the other part of the recipe involves investing in good education, skills and health care.
"It can be done," says Clark whose first call out of New York was to Liberia which has been mired in civil war for 20 years. She says the country was reduced to rubble but now has a good leader and well intentioned people.
Clark says the challenge in countries such as this is to have good strategies and programmes to build capacity to make it happen on the ground.
NZ's former PM says that role has helped her engage with the people in New York and she has held "town hall meetings" with every unit on every floor. She told Henry one person who had worked at the headquarters told her he had never seen the administrator on that level before.
Clark says a highlight so far has been the powhiri to welcome her to the UN headquarters by a senior Maori delegation from New Zealand. she describes the impact as fantastic and Henry has heard similar comments.
Clark says the UNDP is the face of the UN in the developing world and she credits the skills she developed as a politician in New Zealand as paving the way for her to engage with the people she is now working with.
New Zealanders are well respected in the United Nations, she says.
Clark says it is absolutely critical to be pragmatic in her new role and high flown rhetoric doesn't count. "What matters is what results you get on the ground and unless you can show a change for the better you will be judged for pretty negative results".
She says her role in some ways is quite similar to that of Prime Minister of New Zealand in that she is required to read reports, attend meetings, make policy decisions and sign documents.
And Clark has already had some significant visitors such as heads of government, ministers and heads of other UN agencies.
To get the latest from Breakfast in New York click here
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