The international community is presently engaged in a major conversation to shape a new global development agenda, which will succeed the current Millennium Development Goals that conclude at the end of 2015. World leaders, civil society organisations and the business community are calling for an ambitious, long-term agenda to improve people’s lives and protect the planet for future generations. Under the title The Future We Want – Can We Make it a Reality?, Helen Clark, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will give this year’s Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture, focusing on the opportunities with the new development paradigm and the enabling factors to achieve its vision.
The first woman to lead UNDP, Helen Clark is 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.
Prior to her appointment with UNDP in 2009, Helen Clark served for nine years as Prime Minister of New Zealand. Under her leadership, New Zealand achieved significant economic growth, low levels of unemployment, and high levels of investment in education and health, and in the well-being of families and older citizens. She and her government prioritized reconciliation and the settlement of historical grievances with New Zealand’s indigenous people and the development of an inclusive multicultural and multi-faith society.
You will be able to watch the Lecture also live on the Internet.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture
The Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture was jointly established in 1998 by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Uppsala University in memory of the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, one of the University’s illustrious alumni.
Invited speakers are extraordinary persons who have contributed in significant and innovative ways, through the combined efforts of spirit, thought and action, in areas of concern to both Dag Hammarskjöld and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. Previous Dag Hammarskjöld lecturers include Mary Robinson, Brian Urquhart, Joseph Rotblat, Kofi Annan, Jan Eliasson and Margot Wallström.