NZ's Helen Clark is to head UNDP

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Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has been picked to become the new head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon chose Ms Clark to succeed Kemal Dervis of Turkey.

The UNDP has a budget of about $5bn (£3.5bn), and runs the UN's global development work across 166 countries.

Ms Clark, 59, restored unity to the Labour Party after taking over the leadership in 1993 and was prime minister from 1999 to 2008.

She was a strong manager of the country from 1999, earning respect for her clear thinking, intelligent management and political skills.

Under her leadership, New Zealand charted an independent foreign policy. She opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, but improved relations with the US that were damaged in the mid-1980s as a result of New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy.

Her nomination must be approved by the 192-nation UN General Assembly, but has been described as a formality.

UN spokeswoman Michele Montas, announcing the nomination, said Ms Clark would "bring a strategic perspective coupled with fresh thinking and impetus for change."

The head, or "administrator", of UNDP is widely seen as the second or third most important job in the United Nations.