Helen Clark governing coalition, and Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister on 5 December 1999. Clark led the Fifth Labour Government, which implemented several major economic initiatives including Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and KiwiSaver. Her government also introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, which caused major controversy. In foreign affairs, Clark sent troops to the Afghanistan War, but did not contribute combat troops to the Iraq War. She advocated a number of free-trade agreements with major trading partners, including becoming the first developed nation to sign such an agreement with China, and
Helen Clark ordered a military deployment to the 2006 East Timorese crisis alongside international partners. After three successive election victories, her government was defeated in the ; Clark resigned as Prime Minister and party leader on 19 November 2008. She was succeeded as Prime Minister by John Key of the National Party, and as Leader of the Labour Party by Phil Goff. Clark resigned from Parliament in April 2009 to become the first female head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Forbes" magazine ranked her the 22nd most powerful woman in the world in 2016, down from 20th in 2006. In