19 April 2017: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) confirmed Achim Steiner as the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for a four-year term. Steiner succeeds Helen Clark, who served in the role for eight years. UN Secretary-General António Guterres nominated Steiner following consultations with UNDP’s Executive Board. The nomination was approved on 19 April 2017.

Steiner served as Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme from 2006-2016, and is currently the Director of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. In a press release, UNDP notes that Steiner is “a vocal advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and the need for unprecedented global cooperation to deliver on this ambitious agenda.” Steiner, confirmed for a four-year term, said he looks forward to working with all UNDP staff and Member States to continue “the fight to end poverty, protect the planet and promote peace and justice around the world.”

Guterres expressed gratitude to Clark for championing development, environmental protection, democratic governance and institutional reform, and advocating for the rights of the poor and marginalized, particularly women, LGBTI, refugees and migrants, and people with HIV/AIDS. The UNDP Executive Board said Clark had worked to make UNDP “highly transparent and accountable,” leading to its ranking as the most transparent aid organization in the world by Publish What You Fund. In addition, during her tenure, the ratio of women to men at UNDP reached 50%, including at the most senior level of the organisation, and her reforms made UNDP “leaner, more focused and more effective,” said Ib Petersen, Permanent Representative of Denmark and President of the UNDP Executive Board.

Petersen welcomed Steiner’s appointment, which will begin on 20 April 2017. [UNDP Press Release on Steiner’s Appointment] [Achim Steiner Biography] [Announcement of Nomination] [Announcement of UNGA Confirmation] [UNDP Press Release on Clark] [UN Press Release]