Clark will make solo move to New York

Helen Clark and husband Peter Davis, who will not make the move to New York with her. Photos / Herald on Sunday, Greg Bowker

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark's husband will not accompany her to New York and will instead stay at home because of his work commitments.

Peter Davis told the Weekend Herald he wasn't in a position to "down tools" and move with her new role at the United Nations because of his research and teaching obligations at Auckland University.

Professor Davis said the couple would work out a commuting pattern that the university would be happy with.

"At this point the main thing is to make sure that Helen settles into the job and the place. We'll work something so that both of us can see a good amount of each other and she has space to get her work done and I have space to do mine."

The couple, who met in 1977 and married in 1981, are used to working apart because of their successful careers.

When Professor Davis worked at University of Otago's Christchurch School of Medicine, he commuted from their home in Mt Eden in Auckland to Christchurch, while Helen Clark commuted to Premier House in Wellington.

Professor Davis, who specialises in medical sociology, is the director of the Social Statistics Research Group with cross-appointments in the School of Population Health and the Department of Statistics.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday confirmed he had chosen Helen Clark as the administrator of its development programme - its third most important position.

She will not comment until it is confirmed by the General Assembly, which is expected to be a formality.

It is understood Helen Clark's former chief of staff Heather Simpson does not want to go and take up a similar position with her in New York.

"Administrator" seems an unlikely new job title for Helen Clark, who was for so long New Zealand's most powerful person.

But despite the title, there is nothing lightweight about her new role in which she will "administrate" a $9 billion budget and oversee offices in 166 countries.

As the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator, Helen Clark takes charge of an organisation charged with meeting the UN's Millennium development goal: halving world poverty by 2015.

Helen Clark will get to rub shoulders with the UNDP's global ambassadors: footballers Zinédine Zidane, Ronaldo and Didier Drogba, tennis player Maria Sharapova, the Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus, a descendant of King Edward VII, and Japanese actress Misako Konno.

The UNDP is funded by voluntary donations from member countries, with the big contributors including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian and European Union countries.

Helen Clark's role will likely include encouraging this funding, so travel would also be required for that.

It won't be easy: in a recession, countries will be tightening budgets, particularly in areas like aid. She will need to visit Washington, where the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are based.

There is a belief that the three organisations could dovetail their aid and loans better, and Helen Clark, with her contacts and skills, could bring them together better.

There will be controversies to deal with, such as that two years ago, where a whistleblower cited irregularities in its finances in North Korea, including a claim there were forged US dollars in the programme's safe there.

The UNDP gives aid to the world's developing countries.

This may be financial, but also in the form of advice or support for their governments.

As well as poverty reduction, its focuses include eliminating HIV/Aids, setting up democratic governance and crisis prevention and recovery.

What she gets:

* Package in the region of $500,000 a year, including base salary - which is tax-free - and allowances based on the cost of living in New York. It also comes with a superannuation scheme.
* Office in downtown New York.
* As a member of the now-closed original MPs superannuation scheme, she will take a lucrative entitlement after 28 years in Parliament.
* She will also get the former Prime Minister's annuity of $40,250 a year. When back in New Zealand, she is entitled to free domestic airfares, a chauffeur-driven car for official purposes and a self-drive car.

- additional reporting by Patrick Gower