Helen Clark with the United Nations (UN). Clark became the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 17 April 2009, and was the first woman to lead the organisation. 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. The New Zealand Government strongly supported her nomination, along with Australia, the Pacific Island nations and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown. She also received the support of the five countries on the bureau of the UNDP board (Iran, Haiti, Serbia,
Helen Clark by secret ballot in October 2016. Clark finished fifth place in the sixth poll—her candidacy was effectively vetoed when three of the permanent Security Council members voted against her. Clark's bid for Secretary-General is the topic of a documentary film, "My Year With Helen", directed by Gaylene Preston, which premiered in February 2018. Clark was brought up as a Presbyterian Christian, attending Sunday school weekly. When she was Prime Minister she described herself as an agnostic. She married sociologist Peter Davis, her partner of five years in 1981, shortly before she was elected to Parliament. Clark had been under pressure