New York  - The UN General Assembly approved on Tuesday New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark as the new administrator of the UN Development Programme.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon nominated Clark last week to replace outgoing UNDP head Kemal Dervis of Turkey.

"Helen Clark was selected, amongst a group of excellent candidates, for her outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments in her long career," said UN spokeswoman Michele Montas in an official statement.

"Ms Clark has the needed leadership and international recognition that would allow her as the new administrator to build on her predecessors' legacy," said Montas. "In addition, she will bring a strategic perspective coupled with fresh thinking and impetus for change."

Clark is expected to assume her post in late April.

"I am looking forward to leading UNDP at this critical time," Clark said in a statement. "I have a commitment to tackling poverty and injustice, and I regard it as an enormous privilege to tackle these issues at the international level."

UNDP has an annual budget of 5 billion dollars, which it uses to assist development projects in poor countries, from building schools to infrastructure efforts.

Clark has been a member of the New Zealand Parliament since 1981, and was prime minister from 1999 to 2008. Concurrently, she held a number of other portfolios including minister of arts, culture and heritage.

The UN said Clark led her country's policy debate on a wide range of economic, social, environmental, and cultural issues, including sustainability and climate change, and the development of an inclusive multicultural and multi-faith society.

She was also a very active leader of her country's international relations at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. (dpa)