Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime minister colloquially known to a generation of Kiwis as ‘Aunty Helen’, has told The Australian Women’s Weekly in an exclusive interview why she believes she is the best woman for the job as UN Secretary-General.
“We live in a troubled world with huge inequalities,” she says. “There is discrimination and marginalism, there is a lot of conflict.
“My argument has been, with the world the mess is in, you need someone with a leader profile who can really take the organisation forward.”
And Helen might just be the right woman for the job. She’s already the number three ranked bureaucrat at the United Nations with an impressive track record as the Administrator of the UN Development Programme tacking poverty and sustainability world-wide.
While she is widely acknowledged as one the front runners for the job, to be decided in October, some believe it should go to a leader from Eastern Europe.
She declined to comment on the suitability of Kevin Rudd as a candidate, nor would she comment on her own chances of success. “I’m acknowledged as a very serious candidate, but in the end, this is about geopolitics,” she says.
You can read Helen Clark’s full interview in the September issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, on sale August 4.
